Regional AdaptLA Webinar Series

USC Sea Grant is producing a professional development webinar series to provide subject-specific information and training that will help to advance sea level rise and coastal impacts planning in L.A. and Southern California.  This series is part of the capacity building and stakeholder engagement component to our AdaptLA Program.  Webinars will be held throughout 2015 - 2016 and will be open to all participants of AdaptLA and the Southern California Coastal Impacts Project. All live webinars will be archived and available for viewing on this webpage. 

If you are not on our mailing list and wish to register for future webinars, please contact Melodie Grubbs | 213.740.1937.
 

Archived Webinars

Community Exposure to Coastal Storms and Sea Level Rise in San Diego
- January 10, 2017

Researchers with the USGS's Western Geographic Science Center have created the Hazard Exposure Reporting and Analytics (HERA) dynamic web application, which interactively displays community-level estimates of socioeconomic exposure to coastal-flooding hazards in terms of populations, economic assets, land cover, and infrastructure based on the latest COSMOS results.  The web application is designed to help California communities understand both the coastal hazards and potential community impacts associated with climate change. Learn more at http://www.resilientcoastlines.org/

View the webinar.

Coastal Hazard Modeling for the L.A. Region: Final Results
- December 6, 2016

The L.A. coastline now has access to a suite of sophisticated and complementary sea level rise, coastal storm, shoreline evolution and coastal hazard projections. This webinar will focus on reviewing the final modeling results from the work conducted by the Environmental Science Associates (ESA) and the TerraCosta Consulting Group (TCG) under the AdaptLA regional grant, a project funded by the California Ocean Protection Council and managed by the City of Santa Monica. 

The webinar is an opportunity for L.A. regional stakeholders to hear from the scientists about their models, methodologies and major findings and ask questions. Information is also included about how to view and access the results to assist with local planning efforts. Learn more about the AdaptLA project here.

 

View the webinar. 

Los Angeles Basin Study: Unlocking the Future of Stormwater Capture
- April 27, 2016

This AdaptLA webinar focused on findings from the Los Angeles Basin Study. The study assessed the region’s major water conservation and flood risk management infrastructure to prepare for future drivers that may impact water supply, such as changes to climate and population. The study is a long-range planning effort that evaluated the potential of existing facilities and additional new stormwater capture concepts to increase the resiliency and sustainability of local water supplies under an uncertain future. 

View recording of webinar.

Sub-Regional Coastal Storm Modeling Results: Santa Barbara & Ventura
- Febuary 9, 2016

Dr. Patrick Barnard with the U.S. Geological Survey will discuss initial 100-year storm flood hazard maps with four scenarios of sea level rise for the Santa Barbara & Ventura region. More information on the CoSMoS model results may be found here.

View recording of webinar               View ppt presentation

Evaluating Flood Resilience Strategies for Coastal Megacities
- February 3, 2016

Dr. Jeroen Aerts and Dr. Wouter Botzen, Professors at VU University, Amsterdam, will discuss the economics of flood resilience strategies for coastal megacities.  They will give a presentation on the methodology and findings of an economic cost-benefit analysis of multiple sea level rise and coastal flooding adaptation strategies for New York City as well as discuss preliminary findings from a pilot study for the Los Angeles region.

View recording of webinar  
          

Sub-Regional Coastal Storm Modeling Results: San Diego - January 28, 2016

Dr. Patrick Barnard with the U.S. Geological Survey will discuss initial 100-year storm flood hazard maps with four scenarios of sea level rise for the San Diego region. More information on the CoSMoS model results may be found here.

View recording of webinar                 View ppt presentation

Sub-Regional Coastal Storm Modeling Results: Orange County - January 21, 2016

Dr. Patrick Barnard with the U.S. Geological Survey discusses initial 100-year storm flood hazard maps with four scenarios of sea level rise for the Orange County region. More information on the CoSMoS model results may be found here.

View recording of webinar    

View ppt presentation

Sub-Regional Coastal Storm Modeling Results: Los Angeles - December 9, 2015

Dr. Patrick Barnard with the U.S. Geological Survey discusses initial 100-year storm flood hazard maps with four scenarios of sea level rise for the Los Angeles region. More information on the CoSMoS model results may be found here.

View recording of webinar.

El Niño: What to Expect for Southern California - October 28, 2015 

A strong El Niño in the Pacific Ocean has the potential to become one of the most powerful on record. Models are predicting El Niño will peak in the late fall or early winter. Learn from California experts about what we can expect for Southern California and how we can prepare. 

- Andy O'Neill (U.S. Geological Survey) discusses the science of El Niño and how it may impact Southern California.

- Dr. Lesley Ewing (CA Coastal Commission) provides an overview of resources being developed to help prepare for El niño impacts.

- Abe Doherty (CA Ocean Protection Council) discusses state coordination and resources for El Niño.

View recording of webinar.

Legal Issues & Opportunities for Sea Level Rise Planning in California: A Primer for Non-Lawyers - September 16, 2015

To implement sea level rise adaptation plans effectively, local actors in California must understand the ways law and legal tools could enhance their adaptive capacity. Learn from law and policy experts Sean B. Hecht and Megan M. Herzog of UCLA School of Law’s Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment about:

-The role of law in the adaptation planning process

-Public and private rights on the coast, including discussion of takings law and the public trust doctrine

-The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and sea level rise

-Legal tools and recommendations for effective sea level rise planning, including UCLA’s ongoing project to develop model implementing legal provisions for California local governments engaged in sea-level rise adaptation

View recording of webinar

Beach Dynamics & Ecology in Southern California - March 17, 2015 

As Southern Californians, we highly value the beaches that provide us with our "endless summer" culture. Beach-related tourism is a major economic driver for our coastal counties, with an estimated $16.5 billion in tourism expenditures in 2012 for L.A. County alone. Beaches also provide a critical first line of defense against sea level rise and coastal storms. Maintaining our beaches maintains our way of life.

This webinar discussed the physical forcings that shape our coastline as well as the ecology of our beaches and how our actions impact the other organisms who live along the coast. Dr. Reinhard ("Ron") Flick (Scripps Institution of Oceanography) described the natural and anthropogenic processes that control our beaches and sand movement. Dr. Karen Martin (Pepperdine University) described who we share our beaches with, where they can be found, and how they are vulnerable. We discussed strategies that will help us maintain our beaches under scenarios of accelerating sea level rise and the impacts of these strategies on beach ecology.

Download webinar powerpoint here.

Download webinar flyer here.

Envisioning Future Impacts through King Tides and Storms - January 12, 2015

King Tides are the highest high tides of the year. These tides, and storms like those we witnessed this December, help us visualize future average water levels and flooding risks. During these events, community members mobilize to capture photos and videos to provide a living record of the changes to our coasts and a glimpse of what our daily tides may look like in the future.  This webinar provides background on the California King Tides Project and discusses targeted vulnerable locations in L.A.

Download webinar powerpoint here.

Download L.A.-focused King Tide and Flood Hazard Maps here.