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The Town of Windsor
Climate Resilience Plan

Interested in supporting the Town of Windsor’s climate resilience efforts? Contact the Team at info@windsorready.com.

 

Introduction

The following web summary is designed to provide an overview of the Town of Windsor Climate Resilience Plan and its associated documents. You can download the full plan, the appendices, the vulnerability assessment, and the executive summary below using the download buttons. In addition, you can get a glimpse into what is included in the Plan on the following page, including information to help better understand what the Plan is, how climate change is already (and will continue to) impact Windsor, and the general planning process used in this project.

 
 
 

What is the Windsor Resilience Plan?

The Town Council accepted the Windsor Resilience Plan on February 16, 2022, signaling an essential step in the Town’s efforts to build resilience to the impacts of climate change. The Windsor Resilience Plan was developed as part of an 18-month Caltrans grant-funded initiative focused on helping the Town better understand climate risks facing the community and proactively address these risks and build resilience. It was guided by community values and goals, a Resilience Working Group, extensive input from Windsor residents, cutting-edge science, and industry best practices. The Plan builds on the Town’s forward-thinking approach to wildfire preparedness, emergency response, and land-use planning, and is intended to serve as a roadmap for implementing bigger, bolder, and long-term actions over the coming decades. However, the completion of this Plan does not mean the Town is finished. Building climate resilience is a process and not the outcome of a single project or plan. It will require ongoing resources, partnerships, and investment. By bringing people together, breaking down silos between sectors and departments, thinking creatively and boldly about solutions, and prioritizing near-term collaboration and early investments, the Town can continue to be a regional leader in developing and implementing flexible, robust, and equitable climate adaptation strategies.

Windsor is on the front lines of the climate crisis. This Plan provides a roadmap to address the most pressing climate hazards facing the Town.

Wildfires, flooding, drought, and extreme heat present significant challenges for Windsor residents. The impacts of these hazards are expected to increase in severity, duration, and scale over the coming decades due to climate change. For more information on the climate hazards the Town is facing, visit the climate page here. Investing in solutions to enhance the resilience of the Town’s natural resources, infrastructure, economy, people, and critical assets now is critical. This Plan is the first step on that journey.

 The Resilience Goals

The Town is focusing on taking steps towards resilience with actions that can be implemented within the coming years. With a holistic view of resilience in mind, the Town is focused on five actionable goals that address the main climate hazards and increase resilience across the community. The five Plan goals provide direction for the Town to help achieve the community’s vision of a resilient future throughout the planning and implementation process.

Each goal builds on the findings of the Town of Windsor Community Vulnerability Assessment and common themes drawn from initial community outreach and engagement activities. The Resilience Plan goals provide direction to help achieve the community’s vision of a resilient future throughout the planning and implementation process. The goals serve as a foundation upon which future decisions can be made and help in evaluating how well the actions are meeting the community values and expectations.

The Resilience Strategies

While the Plan goals provide direction, the Resilience Strategies address particular climate hazards or vulnerabilities and provide direction for where to begin investing resources. The Resilience Strategies can be viewed as broader categories of specific actions and are intended to set the foundation for addressing the highest priority climate adaptation and resilience needs through specific implementable actions. Drafting and finalizing the Resilience Strategies was an iterative process that involved multiple rounds of community engagement and input from the Core Team and Technical Working Group. There are 50 total strategies - 11 of which that are considered priority strategies - across the five Resilience Goals. Additional example strategies have also been included for reference.

 
 

Priority Strategies

  • Ensure all current and future Town plan updates include climate change considerations.

  • Support neighborhood connections to enhance self-reliance and assistance during extreme weather events, particularly for residents in Communities of Concern.

  • Identify opportunities to reduce the negative effects of poor air quality caused by wildfire smoke on human health.

  • Work with neighborhood groups to create Resilience Hubs.

  • Enhance evacuation communication, planning, and operation for all residents and visitors.

Example Additional Strategies

  • Enhance evacuation education for all residents and visitors.

  • Develop an extreme heat preparedness and response program.

  • Invest in community pre-disaster recovery planning efforts.

Graphic depiction of a Resilience Hub. Source: USDN Resilience Hub Guidance.

 
 

Potential New Connections for Neighborhoods with limited ways in and out. It will be up to the Town leadership in collaboration with staff and community members to ultimately determine which investments to make and when to make those investments.

Priority Strategies

  • Enhance the multimodal transportation network.

  • Enhance local water conservation efforts to improve drought preparedness.

Example Additional Strategies

  • Work with regional partners to enhance resilience and redundancy of cell, landline, radio and other key communication infrastructure systems.

  • Enhance collaboration with regional and state partners to ensure the regional multimodal transportation system is safe, equitable, and protected from climate hazards.

  • Ensure that all new construction projects are built to climate resilient standards.

 
 

Priority Strategies

  • Enhance vegetation management and defensible space efforts for all homes, buildings, and critical facilities.

  • Expand home hardening and retrofit efforts for all homes, buildings, and critical facilities. 

Example Additional Strategies

  • Update building codes to encourage or require the use of climate resilient materials.

  • Review and update the operation and maintenance plans for all public and critical facilities to account for climate change projections.

  • Enhance flood risk reduction efforts for homes, businesses, and other structures located in the 100-year floodplain, 500-year floodplain, and areas of emerging flood risk. 

 

Defensible space zones as defined by the Wildfire Home Retrofit Guide.

 
 

Smoke billowing over the Town of Windsor from the Kincade Fire. ©Tom Rennie.

Priority Strategies

  • Cultivate and support wildfire adapted landscape practices across the Town and region.

Example Additional Strategies

  • Enhance and support regional and local drought contingency planning efforts.

  • Coordinate with Tribal, regional, and state partners to enhance the resilience of Windsor’s watersheds.

  • Enhance pre-disaster recovery capacity to assess and restore ecosystems post-wildfire.

 
 

Priority Strategies

  • Prepare businesses (and business-dependent services) for climate related disruptions.

Example Additional Strategies

  • Limit the impact of extreme heat on local businesses and customers.

  • Ensure business operation, strategy, and maintenance plans account for climate change projections.

  • Center and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in workplaces.

Graphic depiction of key plans where climate mitigation and adaptation/resilience actions can be integrated within and across. (Source: Mindy Craig, 2021)

Conclusion

Planning for the impacts of climate change and building resilience is a process. While this Plan reflects the significant amount of work that has already been done by the Town and the community to get to this point, it doesn’t stop here. Implementing, monitoring, and evaluating the success of these resilience efforts will require ongoing collaboration between and among Town and County departments, agencies, and organizations, as well as with other municipalities. It will also require that the Town monitor and act quickly as funding opportunities become available at the regional, state, and national levels. The Town of Windsor understands the challenges of addressing the climate crisis and is committed to putting in the time, effort, and investments necessary to invest in the community. Effective responses to climate change will require strategic investments in the following areas: collaboration and partnerships; multi-modal transportation infrastructure; Communities of Concern; policy and planning; and, education. By completing this Plan, the Town and the community have taken a significant and important step in the journey to build resilience. As the community and Town leadership makes progress reviewing, refining, and implementing resilience actions, the community can ensure that no one is left behind and the Town continues to be a healthy, vibrant, and thriving community for decades to come.