By Todd Gartner (World Resources Institute), Nathalie Woolworth (Blue Forest Conservation), and Adam Connaker (Rockefeller Foundation)
The Yuba Water Agency (YWA) provides water, flood control and hydropower for communities in Northern California, and serves as a supplementary source for cities and farms across California in dry years through its water transfer program.
For the agency and everyone they serve, wildfires are bad news. In addition to endangering YWA’s workers and customers, sediment from a wildfire could clog the agency’s reservoir, damaging its infrastructure and increasing operating costs.
Wildfires are increasing in number, scale and intensity throughout California. Massive fires erupted recently to the west in Mendocino and to the southeast in Yosemite. YWA can’t help but wonder if their watershed is next.
Across the country, concerned groups ranging from utilities to transportation departments to water-dependent companies are wondering what they can do to reduce wildfire risk in fire-prone areas. These entities may soon look to Yuba to learn about a pioneering approach to financing risk reduction: This week, project developer Blue Forest Conservation (BFC) and World Resources Institute cemented funding for a $4.6 million forest restoration project through the first-ever Forest Resilience Bond (FRB).
The FRB is an innovative financing tool that raises private capital to fund interventions such as forest restoration that reduce the chances of fire. Investors provide capital to fund project implementation. Stakeholders that benefit from restoration—smaller fires mean lower costs—reimburse the investors over time.
To read the rest of this article, go here: https://www.blueforestconservation.com/bfcthoughts/2018/11/1/announcing-frb-yuba-pilot-project
heads up everyone that models are backing off on rain mid november and we are now entering unprecedented dry fuels and extremely dangerous fire conditions!! The global teleconnections are suggesting we could have a very dry winter with Modoki El Nino (warming of sea surface temperatures and tdepths in central equatorial pacific) and the warm pool of ocean water or the “Blob” in the northeast Pacific ocean inducing a feedback loop that locks in the high or ridge off the west coast of north america. If the drought returns like its very likely looking we are going to have a very scary fire season next summer and i strongly suggest clearing and thinning large areas around structures, roads and power lines in preparedness for this dry windy prolonged pattern we could be entering
Oh, lord, Paul. We do not need to hear this (well, actually we do, so we can better prepare). We had a very scary fire last night, dangerously close to houses. Fortunately it was contained to 2 acres.
https://bigsurkate.blog
The Forest Resilience Bond is one of a number of new financial instruments known as Social Impact Bonds. The breakthrough idea is that funding preventative mitigation for social and environmental challenges can reduce the ultimate cost to government and the taxpayer. Large conservation NGOs with significant endowments would be a logical target for investors in the bond, as well as private investors. It remains to be seen if this bond will attract enough capital to allow the mitigation thesis to be proven. It is exciting to see this type of innovation in addressing wildfires. Thank you Kate for sharing this.
You are quite welcome, Lisa. I thought it was such an innovative idea and the type of thinking our planet needs, particularly right now.
https://bigsurkate.blog