During last week’s atmospheric river storm, a levee broke on the Pajaro River, turning the town of Pajaro – inhabited mostly by Latino farmworkers – into a lake. As the LA Times reported, officials knew for decades that the levee was unstable, but delayed fixing it because of “benefit-cost ratios.” We’ll talk with community representatives and water management experts about what Pajaro residents are facing now, and how decisions are made that determine which communities are protected. As climate change brings more extreme weather events and flooding, we discuss what changes need to be made to protect vulnerable communities through the coming decades.
Related link(s):