Beginning in Spring 2022, JE-L has supported a landscape architecture and urban design studio at UC-Berkeley focused on core issues of concern across the Pájaro Valley. While we examine a different question every year (set by community partners!), here we feature the projects produced in these courses.

How common are floods in the Pájaro Valley? Why does flooding occur in the region?

From our studio discussions and community discussions, these questions emerged persistently since the 2023 Winter Storms. As such, we did an analysis of regional archives to create a flood timeline and history for the Pájaro Valley. This report summarizes our findings; namely that major floods have occurred in the region an average of once every five years.

As an exhibit of the report bearing the same name, this project investigated the history of the Pájaro Valley’s waterways, flood risks, and flood events. To find this information, eight archives throughout the Bay Area and California were searched providing geospatial data, photographs, maps, news articles, and stories. These data sources were then cross-analyzed to construct a Flood Risk Timeline identifying four key periods in the region’s history of flooding. The exhibit highlighted the timeline of flood events and our data sources.

This report investigated the (in)equitableness of recovery outcomes following the 2023 Winter Storms in the Pájaro Valley of California (Valley).

It sought to uncover these challenges but also emphasize the power of community networks and capacity, as local characteristics to support and build upon. As such, the report asked two questions: What post-flood recovery challenges were/are experienced by Pájaro Valley residents? What can be done to mitigate future flood risks to make the community safer?

This report examines the extent of flooding, its severity, and barriers to equitable recovery in unincorporated areas across the region. Through semi-structured interviews with community leaders and public officials in the Pájaro Valley, flood risk mapping, and observations of planning meetings, we sought to achieve three goals: (1) determine the distribution and severity of flooding in the region’s unincorporated areas; (2) identify major barriers to equitable recovery in unincorporated areas; and (3) amplify opportunities and future hopes for the Pájaro Valley.