GHG-15: Implement the South Sacramento Habitat Conservation Plan

With this measure, the County will continue its commitment to conserve and enhance its natural lands identified in the South Sacramento Habitat Conservation Plan (SSHCP). The County aims to understand and improve the carbon sequestration potential of these lands, and the County will partner with the South Sacramento Conservation Agency to perform a carbon sequestration capacity analysis and incorporate new carbon sequestration estimates in future updates to the County’s GHG inventory.

This measure was deemed not quantifiable because it is not known what development, if any, could take place on these lands that would be avoided by this preservation measure. Additionally, actions to increase carbon sequestration on agricultural and open space lands are already captured and quantified under Measure GHG-01 (Carbon Farming), and sufficient data was not available to avoid potential double counting.

Action Description: ​Continue implementation of the SSHCP to protect and enhance wetlands (primarily vernal pools), upland habitats, and agricultural lands within the conservation area. 

Action Description: ​Perform a carbon sequestration capacity analysis to understand the baseline carbon storage and sinks associated with lands covered under the SSHCP, and how preservation, restoration, and management activities under the implementation of the SSHCP may act to increase carbon sequestration potential in these lands. The analysis should also identify data that can be collected from the South Sacramento Conservation Agency annual implementation reports to calculate the carbon sequestration potential of SSHCP implementation activities for countywide GHG inventory updates.

Action Description: ​Coordinate with the South Sacramento Conservation Agency to annually track the acres of lands conserved under the implementation of the SSHCP. Also, collect data to calculate additional carbon sequestration potential associated with activities performed each year for inclusion in GHG inventory updates, after a carbon sequestration capacity analysis has been completed.