“The reality is the Central Valley has a lot of frontline communities that have borne the impacts of climate and weather extremes, whether it’s drought, smoke, flood,” said John Abatzoglou, climatology professor at the University of California, Merced. “Unfortunately, they have not had the resources to prepare for these extreme events, and that’s why they’re vulnerable.
For example, officials may build a dam around a waste treatment plant run by the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts in Kings County, according to aalso reaching out to underserved communities to help people access emergency information in their native languages. In a local conflict that made national headlines, the historic Black town of Allensworth, nearby Alpaugh, and farmers along the Tulare Lake bed were flooded after a large landowner refused to allow his property to flood. As Allensworth residents pleaded for official intervention and scrambled to save their community, SJV Water, a nonprofit newsroom,
“At the moment all of those issues need to be addressed at the local level,” Nemeth said. “We are checking into our state authorities on flood management kinds of decisions.” Stephen Mancebo stands near a canal by his farmland in Tulare County on March 23, 2023. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local
Mancebo had to make other quick decisions that week. The canal linked to Lake Kaweah crossing his property began overflowing into fields where he grew winter wheat for his dairy. “That’s why I have a really hard time talking about this or feeling sorry for a couple hundred acres, you know?” Mancebo said.