RTD note: Little Manila Rising was part of the Stockton Environmental Justice initiative. They have become leaders on air quality in the Delta. We are so very happy to share this national story on their behalf.
How computer mapping could help Biden find and fix polluted neighborhoods – Reuters (w/video) 4/13/21
Diagnosed with asthma at 8 years old, Karlaine Francisco grew up thinking everyone had it.
Her friends in south Stockton, California, also carried inhalers and suffered coughing and wheezing fits. “I would tell people, ‘Oh yeah, I have asthma,’” said Francisco, now a 17-year-old high school senior. “And then, my friend would be like, ‘Yeah, I have asthma too.’”After California began making environmental data available through an online mapping tool, Francisco and others in her Filipino immigrant community realized their chronically under-invested neighborhood Little Manila suffered high air pollution and groundwater contamination. It also suffered some of the state’s highest poverty, unemployment and asthma rates.
California’s mapping tool is now a model for President Joe Biden’s government, as it executes a $2 trillion infrastructure plan that could channel billions into communities around the country like Little Manila…
DWR: Community Benefits Program meeting schedule
CA DWR is developing a Community Benefits Program for the proposed Delta Conveyance Project which will ultimately identify and implement commitments, if the Delta Conveyance Project is approved, to help protect and enhance the cultural, recreational, natural resource and agricultural values of the Delta. Development and eventual administration of this program will be a grassroots and collaborative process with the local community. Currently, DWR is gathering input from community leaders and the public regarding potential concepts and approaches which will lead to development of a framework to be presented in the Draft Environmental Impact Report.
Participation in developing a community benefits program does not in any way indicate your support for the Delta Conveyance Project itself.
For any questions or feedback related to the development of the Community Benefits Program, please email DeltaConveyanceCBP@water.ca.gov
Next Two Meetings
- Thursday, May 6, 2021 | 6:00pm – 8:00pm. REGISTER HERE by April 29th
- Tuesday, May 25, 2021 | 6:00pm – 8:00pm. REGISTER HERE by May 18th