Environmental Sustainability

Finding ways to stall, or even reverse, climate change and make our communities and the environment sustainably healthier are more than just goals. They are among the most important challenges we face.

From reducing greenhouse gas emissions in our facilities and the County’s unincorporated areas, to creating more sustainable communities, the County works hard to actively address these issues. 

This year the County updated the Climate Action Plan for our unincorporated areas. That plan outlines how the County, residents and businesses can reduce greenhouse gases and wildfire risks and protect our natural environment in the coming years.

At the same time, we continue to expand on years of work to keep on pace to meet the 2030 climate goals we set in 2018. We’ve acquired open space to protect our native environment —from chaparral to wetlands, native habitats and the animals that live there. We’ve added more electrical vehicles and charging stations to the County’s fleet. And our Board of Supervisors continues to explore ways to build housing that will require homeowners to drive less and lower carbon footprints.

We’ve worked with farmers to create agricultural easements to promote farming and sustainability through locally grown food and goods. And we’ve planted trees that naturally remove carbon dioxide from the air and lower temperatures. In just the past year, we worked with community partners and incorporated cities to plant thousands of trees. We will plant about 4,000 in the coming year.

The County also voted to spend $5.1 million last year to expand dredging in the Tijuana River Valley to remove trash and sediment and reduce flooding. The action extends dredging beyond County-owned areas. 

In June, our County Library system was the first in California to be designated as a “Certified Sustainable County Library.” Six of the County’s 33 branch libraries were built to the U.S. Green Building Council’s “LEED” certifications. Several have rooftop solar panels that give them “Zero Net Energy” footprints, meaning they produce more electrical energy than the buildings use. 

The Library has also adopted several other planet-friendly methods to work toward a greener environment that include planting more trees, adding bottle filling stations for water and purchasing four new all-electric outreach vehicles.