Planning
Western Riverside County's residents, businesses, organizations, and public agencies want to ensure expected growth produces a successful, sustainable, and resilient subregion that current and future generations will continue to enjoy. WRCOG works to address these issues through its various planning initiatives.
Resilient IE
WRCOG, in coordination with the San Bernardino County Transportation Commission (SBCTA), is developing a Regional Adaptation Toolkit for Transportation Infrastructure, known as "Resilient IE", to support regional efforts to prepare for and mitigate risks associated with climate adaptation and transportation infrastructure. This project is funded by a $680k Caltrans grant. For more information on the project and progress to date, click here.
Resilient IE Phase II – Analyses for Smart Climate Resilient Transportation Planning and Investments – will expand and advance the pilot Toolkit by conducting risk assessments on a sample of vulnerable transportation assets that provide full asset value, including the needs of disadvantaged and/or vulnerable communities and transit dependent populations. The project will continue engagement and collaboration of partnerships across state, regional, and local governments and stakeholders. Critical partners will include transportation users who rely on an operating regional transportation network to gain access to businesses, hospitals, and shelters. The Analyses will research and develop adaptation strategies, with their associated costs, by projecting the cost of damages and repairs to various asset classes as well as the impact of the assets’ failure on the community. Furthermore, the project will incorporate co-benefits to public health, natural ecosystems, social equity, the economy, and greenhouse gas reduction. Ultimately the Analyses will provide local jurisdictions with concrete tools, methods, and resources for the region to incorporate asset risk into their planning processes for sound transportation project prioritization and investment.
Climate Action Plan Toolkit
WRCOG received grant funding from the Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant Program to prepare a Climate Action Plan (CAP) toolkit for use by the local jurisdictions. The toolkit provides participating jurisdictions with a framework for reducing their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions consistent with targets and mandates established by the State of California. The toolkit includes the more common local reduction measures. The goal of the toolkit is to provide a head start to local jurisdictions with the types of measures and data that are common in CAPs and enable local jurisdictions to incorporate localized measures into a stand-alone CAP. The toolkit also includes greenhouse gas inventories for all member jurisdictions and a quantification tool. A summary for the effort at the subregional level is here.
Water Quality
WRCOG completed a study in 2016 to analyze the opportunities and constraints that new development and redevelopment projects confront in meeting recently enacted requirements for on-site control and dispersal of stormwater runoff. WRCOG evaluated the feasibility of developing a regional water quality mitigation program to meet MS4 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit provisions for alternative compliance.