An environmental group has purchased $10.1 million worth of Lake Tahoe land including scenic meadows, forests, and trout streams in order to preserve wildlife there and increase California's water supply. The purchase amounts to over 10,000 acres. Planning to remove old logging roads and restore the landscape, Palo Alto-based Northern Sierra Partnership also hopes to prove that thinning out some of the trees in densely populated forest areas there would increase California's water supply, of which the Sierra Nevada provides 40 percent. Theorizing that California's firefighting efforts after 1850 prevent naturally occurring fires that thin out dead trees and brush, UC Merced and UC Berkeley scientists have done research indicating that if these forests are thinned it could increase the amount of water flowing from the Sierra Nevada into streams, rivers, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and San Francisco Bay. By thinning about 25 to 50 percent of the trees in many of these areas, UC Merced Professor Roger Bales said, the amount of water flowing into streams could increase from 9 to 16 percent. Sierra-wide, that could increase the water running off by 500,000 to 1 million acre feet a year, enough for up to 5 million people for a year.

Massive Warehouse Complex Approved in Inland Empire
 In a split vote, the Moreno Valley City Council approved a 40 million-square-foot warehouse project to be built on the eastern edge of the city. Councilors in favor of the World Logistics Center -by far the largest of countless large warehouses and distribution centers being built in the Inland Empire - mostly touted the estimated 20,000 jobs that the project would bring to the city, a number that also prompted the Planning Commission to approve the project 6-1 in June. However, detractors including the California Air Resources Board have called the project's Environmental Impact Report inadequate to fend off lawsuits, and the 14,000 trucks a day that the project will likely draw into the city will worsen air pollution in a region plagued with some of the worst air pollution in the nation. "We've already been told if this is approved, lawsuits are going to be filed," Councilman George Price said during the council meeting, according to the Los Angeles Times.

PPIC Contemplates Future Drought
 The Public Policy Institute of California has released a new report titled "What If California's Drought Continues?" chronicling the state's unpreparedness for a long-term drought worsened by climate change. Specifically, the report says that sustained investments in diversified water portfolios and conservation have put urban areas in the best position to sustain a long drought, but that the greatest vulnerabilities lie in low-income rural communities and in the biodiversity of wetlands rivers, and forests, with 18 native fish appearing to be at high risk of extinction. The report suggests building drought resilience through diversified water portfolios, coordinated emergency response, and better regional infrastructure across multiple agencies.

Sacramento Arena Secures Financing; Soccer Stadium Proposed
 Sacramento's basketball and soccer stadium proposals are making waves as they seek expansions in the city. The Kings and the Republic Football Club have joined forces for a social media campaign dubbed "Fix My Ride 916" to encourage the Sacramento Regional Transit District to implement a stronger transit system by October 2016, when a new downtown arena is scheduled to open. The campaign comes in the wake of another big gain for the Kings as the city of Sacramento officially became a partner in the construction of a new arena, closing on a short-term $300 million bond sale and eventually contributing $255 million to the arena. Additionally, as a part of Mayor Kevin Johnson's effort to show Major League Soccer that Sacramento is ready to join its ranks, Sacramento Republic Football Club is seeking fan input on design and entertainment ideas for a proposed stadium in the downtown railyard. The railyard was once considered as a site for the basketball arena. "This vital feedback from the community will not only assist us in the design of the stadium but also garner ideas on how it will serve as a catalyst towards our goal of making Sacramento a better place to work, live and play," Republic FC team president Warren Smith said in a statement.

More Funding Committed to O.C. Streetcar
 The Orange County Transportation Authority agreed to commit $56 million to a new streetcar line between Santa Ana and Garden Grove in a bid to get a matching federal grant of $144 million for the project. The $289 million project, called OC Streetcar, is expected to be running in 2017 for commutes along a four-mile route through densely populated neighborhoods and the Santa Ana train station, holding an estimated 6,000 riders per day. Critics, however, have said that those estimates are overly optimistic, and fares from the project are only expected to cover 30 percent of the estimated $5 million annual operating cost, with Santa Ana paying 10 percent of the balance, while OCTA  will cover 60 percent. OCTA CEO Darrell Johnson pronounced the authority's prospects of receiving the grant "very good," but money could still come from Measure M to build the rail even if they do not receive the federal grant.

Coastal Commission Holds Firm on Affordable Housing in S.D.
 The Coastal Commission rejected plans to build three hotels on Harbor Island in San Diego because the project won't meet its demands for affordable lodging along the water. The projects, which would be located on public tidelands overseen by the Port of San Diego would build a 175-room hotel on the eastern end of the peninsula and 325 additional rooms on Harbor Island. "It is a form of segregation when we take the public land and develop it for people who can afford $250-and-above hotel rooms and we develop land (further) away for cheaper (hotels) for the public who can't afford it," Commissioner Mary Shallenberger said at the hearing. "This isn't all about money. It's about making our coast accessible to all people." Since the California Coastal Act came into being 40 years ago mandating that facilities along the coast be provided with lower cost facilities, the commission has had mixed success implementing the mandate. Some $19 million in affordable lodging fees have been collected over the years, but close to $10 million remains unspent.

Escondido May Expand
The Escondido City Council will likely begin updating and expanding the city's sphere of influence, which identifies land outside the city limits the it might eventually want to annex, in hopes of absorbing a piece of property where a developer hopes to build 550 luxury homes. The developer of the 350-acre Safari Highlands Ranch development in the rugged hills of the San Pasqual Valley hopes that the city will absorb the property in order to extend vital municipal services there. Annexation would also allow the developer to skirt county zoning restrictions, which would allow only 27 homes on the land. A year ago the City Council - indicating the city needs more upscale housing - told the would-be developers they could move forward planning the project, although no guarantees were offered that it would be approved. Critics have said that the resulting traffic and noise from the project would ruin the quiet character of the surrounding communities.

National League of Cities to Hold Resilience Workshop
 The National League of Cities will host a Resilience Leadership Workshop to promote environmental, economic, and social vitality within Southern California municipalities. Hosted in Redlands on Sept. 21-22, the workshop will be attended by -City Teams,' composed of at least two attendees who are either elected officials or full-time city staff from each participating municipality. The primary goal is to help bring the innovative near tools and planning practices into the mainstream to the benefit of communities of any size through expert speakers.

Bay Area Commuters Embrace Alternative Transportation
 Commuters in the Bay Area made the nation's most dramatic shift away from using private automobiles in a seven year period, dropping from 73.6 percent of workers in 2006 to 69.8 percent in 2013, according to a new Census Bureau report. In absolute terms, it also boasted the third lowest rate of use of private cars in commutes in 2013, only falling behind New York City and Ithaca, NY. Overall, 76.4 percent of the nation's workers drove alone to get to work in 2013, the Census Bureau's survey found, followed by those who carpooled, 9.4 percent; used public transit, 5.2 percent; worked at home, 4.4 percent; walked, 2.8 percent; or used "other means of travel," 1.3 percent. Bicycling was the least popular method of commuting, used by just six-tenths of one percent of workers.

Plan for Office Park Unveiled at Controversial Site in Santa Monica
 Plans that once involved building a mixed-use neighborhood in Santa Monica across from the Expo Line 26th Street Station are now moving forward as a 204,000 square foot suburban-style office park after opposition to the original project launched a successful referendum. The original plan from developer Hines would have created more than 400 apartments and about 400,000 square feet of office space and included the city's most aggressive traffic demand management program. Director of MoveLA Denny Zane, a former Santa Monica mayor and current co-chair of Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR), joined forces with local no-growth groups like Residocracy and Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City, to kill the project. The new, scaled-down project will remain within the envelope of the defunct PaperMate pen factory that has long occupied the site. It will now go to the Architectural Review Board for design approval. The project's announcement follows the recent down-zoning of the city's general plan. 

State of Jefferson Movement Eyes El Dorado County
Over 400 citizens of El Dorado County gathered at a Board of Supervisors meeting there to voice their support for a plan to secede from California and join the proposed state of Jefferson. Supporters in 16 counties -- mostly across rural Northern California -- are trying to get supervisors to approve a "declaration of withdrawal" from the state, with El Dorado being the group's first attempt to garner an endorsement in the Sacramento region. The group hopes to convince a state legislator to introduce a sure-to-fail bill in January calling for the formation of the state, after which Jefferson advocates will take their movement for statehood to the courts, Mark Baird, a spokesman for the movement, told the Sacramento Bee. Supporters of secession have claimed that a new government would prevent the imbalance of power produced by heavily-populated, largely Democrat-leaning cities over rural areas like those in far-northern California.