County of Santa Cruz seeking community input for Hazard Mitigation Plan

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) -- The County of Santa Cruz has announced that they are seeking public input to help the Office of Response, Recovery & Resilience (OR3) mitigate impacts from future disasters.

With the help of secured federal funding, OR3 say that they are creating a Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan (MJHMP) in partnership with nine other jurisdictions.

According to the county, this plan is to ensure continued eligibility for federal Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grants.

They are asking members of the public to fill out a survey, which will help them to assess potential impact and propose targeted mitigation actions.

"By addressing vulnerabilities within each jurisdiction, the plan supports lifesaving measures, property protection, and environmental resilience and helps reduce the long-term risk of natural disasters," according to the county.

The county says that the Federal Emergency Management Agency requires local governments to reassess and update their Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) every five years to reflect changes in population, infrastructure and disaster occurrences.

This effort covers unincorporated areas of the county as well as the cities of Scotts Valley, Capitola and
Watsonville, according to the county.

Other participating agencies include Soquel Creek Water District, Scotts Valley Water District, Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency, Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz Port District and Cabrillo College.