Ventura County Research Articles

Multi-agent management of integrated food-energy-water systems using stochastic games: from Nash equilibrium to the social optimum

System-level integration and optimization of food-energy-water systems (FEWS) require coordination of multiple agencies and decision-makers and incorporating their interdependence. In general, such coordination might be hard to achieve. As a result, the literature on FEWS management either optimizes the operations for one sector (or one decision-maker), or models interdependence among the sectors without optimizing their operations. In this article, we develop a novel multi-agent management optimization approach that is able to incorporate stochasticity and uncertainty in the system’s dynamics and interdependence of the water and energy resources for food production. The proposed method is the first attempt to utilize fundamentals of decision and game theories to optimize operations of multi-agent FEWS. We specifically focus on differentiating between (1) cooperative decision optimization of the operations, where all decision-makers cooperate to achieve the best outcome for the whole system, the social optimum, and (2) non-cooperative decision-making of the agents, the Nash equilibrium. Illustrating with a real-world case study of FEWS in Ventura County, California, we show the difference between the cooperative and non-cooperative decision making in terms of long-term expected cost of managing the system. We further show how the extra costs associated with utilizing the renewable sources of water and energy could be incentivised, so that the non-cooperative solution (the Nash equilibrium) would naturally converge to the best outcome for the whole system (the social optimum).

Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Response and Outcomes During the COVID-19 Pandemic

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential impact of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) responses and outcomes in 2 U.S. communities with relatively low infection rates.BackgroundStudies in areas with high COVID-19 infection rates indicate that the pandemic has had direct and indirect effects on community responses to OHCA and negative impacts on survival. Data from areas with lower infection rates are lacking.MethodsCases of OHCA in Multnomah County, Oregon, and Ventura County, California, with attempted resuscitation by emergency medical services (EMS) from March 1 to May 31, 2020, and from March 1 to May 31, 2019, were evaluated.ResultsIn a comparison of 231 OHCA in 2019 to 278 in 2020, the proportion of cases receiving bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was lower in 2020 (61% to 51%, respectively; p = 0.02), and bystander use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) declined (5% to 1%, respectively; p = 0.02). EMS response time increased (6.6 ± 2.0 min to 7.6 ± 3.0 min, respectively; p < 0.001), and fewer OHCA cases survived to hospital discharge (14.7% to 7.9%, respectively; p = 0.02). Incidence rates did not change significantly (p > 0.07), and coronavirus infection rates were low (Multnomah County, 143/100,000; Ventura County, 127/100,000 as of May 31) compared to rates of ∼1,600 to 3,000/100,000 in the New York City region at that time.ConclusionsThe community response to OHCA was altered from March to May 2020, with less bystander CPR, delays in EMS response time, and reduced survival from OHCA. These results highlight the pandemic’s indirect negative impact on OHCA, even in communities with relatively low incidence of COVID-19 infection, and point to potential opportunities for countering the impact.

The (in)visible victims of disaster: Understanding the vulnerability of undocumented Latino/a and indigenous immigrants

As climate change advances, communities across the United States are adapting to the increased threat of wildfires, drought, heatwaves, and infectious diseases. Such disasters are expected to become more frequent and severe. Now more than ever, it is crucial to understand how these events amplify existing inequalities, and how to lessen the resulting harms. Differences in human vulnerability to disaster stem from a range of social, economic, historical, and political factors. We argue that given their social status, undocumented Latino/a and Indigenous immigrants are particularly vulnerable to disasters and require special consideration in disaster planning. They are disproportionately affected by racial discrimination, exploitation, economic hardships, less English and Spanish proficiency, and fear of deportation in their everyday lives— their pre-disaster marginalized status. In the case of the Thomas Fire in California's Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, we show that emergency response and recovery efforts ignored their needs. Resources were directed toward privileged individuals, leaving local immigrant rights and environmental justice groups to provide essential services such as language access to emergency information in Spanish and Indigenous tongues; labor protections for farmworkers endangered in the fields; and a private disaster relief fund for undocumented immigrants ineligible for federal aid. The article concludes with preliminary participant observations from the COVID-19 pandemic response in the region, indicating how lessons from the fire have informed official actions. As governments grapple with the increasing severity of disasters, understanding the differential impacts on undocumented immigrants can help improve disaster planning to protect the most vulnerable and stigmatized populations.

Effect of screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment for unhealthy alcohol and other drug use in mental health treatment settings: a randomized controlled trial.

To test the efficacy of a brief intervention to reduce alcohol or drug use and to promote use of addiction services among patients seeking mental health treatment. A multi-centre, longitudinal, two-group randomized controlled trial with randomization within each of two mental health treatment systems located in Ventura County and Los Angeles County in California, USA. A total of 718 patients (49.2% female) aged 18 and older with a mental health diagnosis and either a heavy drinking day or any use of cannabis or stimulants in the past 90days. A motivation-based brief intervention with personalized feedback (screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT) condition) (n=354) or a health education session (control condition) (n=364). Primary outcomes included frequency of heavy drinking days, days of cannabis use and days of stimulant use at the primary end-point 3months post-baseline. Secondary outcomes included frequency and abstinence from substance use out to a 12-month follow-up and the use of addiction treatment services. Participants in the SBIRT condition had fewer heavy drinking days [odds ratio (OR)=0.53; 95% credible interval (CrI)=0.48-0.6] and fewer days of stimulant use (OR=0.58; 95% CrI=0.50-0.66) at the 3-month follow-up compared with participants in the health education condition. Participants in the SBIRT condition did not comparatively reduce days of cannabis use at the 3-month follow-up (OR=0.93; 95% CrI=0.85-1.01). Secondary outcomes indicated sustained effects of SBIRT on reducing the frequency of heavy drinking days and days of stimulant use. No effects were observed on abstinence rates or use of addiction treatment services. Screening and brief intervention for unhealthy alcohol and drug use in mental health treatment settings were effective at reducing the frequency of heavy drinking and stimulant use.

Abstract B109: Architecture of increased breast cancer risk

Abstract Purpose: To highlight the importance of building a high-risk breast cancer clinic for women who do not have a BRCA 1, BRCA 2 or other highly penetrant cancer susceptibility mutation. Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and the second most prevalent cause of cancer death of women in the United States; the lifetime risk for breast cancer in women is approximately 12%. Women may be at increased risk for breast cancer for many reasons including family history, genetic alterations, age, reproductive status and menstrual history. Most women who are at increased risk of developing breast cancer do not have a BRCA 1, BRCA 2 or other mutation. The majority of breast cancer diagnoses are due to acquired somatic mutations; only 5 to 10% of breast cancer diagnoses are attributable to highly penetrant Mendelian cancer susceptibility genes. White women with Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry tend to have a higher incidence of BRCA 1 and 2 mutations; traditionally, most research efforts about highly penetrant genes have been focused on this group rather than other racial and ethnic groups. However, there is a great need to study breast cancer risk-reduction strategies in racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, particularly because most breast cancers are not caused by BRCA 1 and 2 mutations. City of Hope is located approximately 21 miles northeast of Los Angeles and operates 13 clinical practice locations including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. These five counties are home to the majority of California's multicultural and ethnic residents where San Bernardino County has the highest percentage of Hispanics (49.9%) and blacks (8.3%), Ventura County has the highest percentage of whites (48.1%), and Orange County has the highest concentration of Asians (18.2%). It has been established in the literature that the greatest benefit from breast cancer prevention strategies comes from treating women who are at high risk of the disease. While it is important to build a high-risk breast cancer clinic for women with genetic mutations, it is equally important to build a high-risk breast clinic for women who are at increased risk of breast cancer but do not have a mutation, particularly because most breast cancer is diagnosed in this population. In addition, it is crucial to educate high-risk patients that although they may have tested negative for a genetic mutation if they have a family history of breast cancer, they warrant close clinical surveillance. Methods: We are proposing a retrospective, descriptive study of data that will be collected as part of a high-risk breast cancer program implemented by City of Hope. Results/Conclusions: We expect to discuss the findings related to serving women of all races and ethnicities who do not have a mutation in a highly penetrant gene mutation. Citation Format: Karen Herold, Lisa D. Yee, Chidimma M. Kalu, Laura L. Kruper, Veronica C. Jones, Amy C. Polverini, Sharon Clancy, Tanya A. Chavez, Jackelyn A. Alva-Ornelas, Noe R Chavez, Ellen J. Rippberger, Jerneja Tomsic, Christopher Sistrunk, Ombeni Idassi, Daniel B. Schmolze, Courtney Vito, Alan Nunez, Angela K. Wong, Krista M. Round, Christine Thai, Angelica Sanchez, Margarita Robles, Kendall Kennedy, Terry Hyslop, Victoria L. Seewaldt. Architecture of increased breast cancer risk [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr B109.

Olive Twig and Branch Dieback in California Caused by Cytospora oleicola and the Newly Described Species Cytospora olivarum sp. nov.

Field surveys conducted throughout California olive-growing regions in 2008 and 2009 resulted in a collection of 101 Cytospora-like isolates from olive twig and branch dieback symptoms. Cytospora isolates were isolated from multiple cvs. in different olive orchards in Fresno, Madera, Merced, Napa, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, Tulare, and Ventura counties. Taxonomic studies of macro- and microscopic structures along with multigene phylogenetic analyses of the internal transcribed spacer region, including the 5.8S rDNA (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2), and fragments of the translation elongation factor 1-α, beta-tubulin, and actin genes identified two species, Cytospora oleicola and C. olivarum sp. nov. Pathogenicity studies conducted in mature olive trees cvs. Manzanillo and Sevillano showed both species to be pathogenic and able to cause vascular necrosis and cankers in olive branches. This study adds to the current knowledge on the etiology of olive twig and branch dieback and provides new important information for the development of effective control strategies against canker diseases affecting olive in California.

Erratum

GroundwaterVolume 58, Issue 5 p. 856-856 Erratum/Free Access Erratum This article corrects the following: Drawdown in a well of large diameter Istavros S. Papadopulos, Hilton H. Cooper, Volume 3Issue 1Water Resources Research pages: 241-244 First Published online: July 9, 2010 First published: 22 April 2020 https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13010AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Mills, A. 2020. Comparison of two computational methods for estimating transmissivity based on the picking equation. Groundwater (this issue). After the manuscript was approved for publication in Groundwater, I continued testing one of the two programs discussed in the paper (PPC-Recovery). I found an error in the code that involved switching rw for rc in one equation, where rw is the radius of the lower portion of the well, often screened and rc is the radius of the upper part of the well, often cased. The code was corrected and the program version was changed from PPC-Recovery35 to PPC-Recovery38. When I applied PPC-Recovery38 to the same data sets referenced in the above paper, the results were identical to those applied by PPC-Recovery35 as reported. This is because all of those recovery tests applied to wells with rc = rw = 3.0 inches. I applied PPC-Recovery35 to the case of water-level recovery of a well with differing rw and rc located in Ventura County, California (Kear 2005). The resulting computed transmissivity (T) value of 24 ft2/day (2.2 m2/day) was roughly one-tenth of the value, 260 ft2/day (24 m2/day), that Kear (2005) derived from the original data using the Papadopulos and Cooper method (Papadopulos and Cooper 1967). Subsequently the corrected version of PPC-Recovery, PPC-Recovery38, was applied to the recovery portion of Kear's data with a resulting T value of 230 ft2/day (21 m2/day), differing by just 12% from Kear's value. This would seem acceptably close considering that on page 125 and on Figure 50 of Kear's thesis it implies that data from both the pumping period and the recovery period were used in the analysis, while the PPC-Recovery38 was run using only the data from the recovery period. The corrected program PPC-Recovery38 should be used henceforth. It can be obtained from the Integrated Groundwater Modeling Center (IGWMC) at igwmc@mines.edu or by contacting the author at acmills2@comcast.net. References Kear, J. L. 2005. Hydrogeology of the Ojai Groundwater Basin: Storativity and Confinement, Ventura County, California. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science on Geology. California State University, Northridge. Papadopulos, I.S., and H.H. Cooper Jr. 1967. Drawdown in a well of large diameter. Water Resources Research 3, no. 1: 241– 244. Volume58, Issue5September/October 2020Pages 856-856 ReferencesRelatedInformation

Brackish water desalination for greenhouse agriculture: Comparing the costs of RO, CCRO, EDR, and monovalent-selective EDR

Greenhouses are a rapidly growing agricultural sector that uses desalination systems. However, the desalination requirements of the greenhouse industry and an economic evaluation of desalination technologies for greenhouses have not been reported previously. Several greenhouse operators in North America using desalination systems were interviewed to identify key design specifications. A detailed cost comparison was conducted for key technologies: reverse osmosis (RO), closed circuit RO (CCRO), electrodialysis reversal (EDR) and monovalent selective EDR (MS-EDR). Capital, energy and membrane replacement costs, savings in feedwater costs from operating at higher recovery, and potential savings in fertilizer from using MS-EDR, were calculated. For <10-hectare greenhouses, RO was the most cost-effective technology. For >10-hectare greenhouses, alternatives can be considered. MS-EDR is economically competitive if it can retain at least 20% of the calcium and magnesium needed for growing and if membranes last 7 years. CCRO is competitive if the sum of feedwater and brine disposal costs are >$0.24/m3. If this cost was $0.32/m3, additional investment over RO for CCRO, EDR and MS-EDR, could pay itself back in 2.4, 3.4 and 2.1 years. In Ventura county where municipal water costs $1.05/m3, RO, CCRO, EDR and MS-EDR had payback periods of 7.1, 8.4, 7.8 and 8.2 months.

Cross-institutional collaboration for transfer student success

Purpose Each of Ventura County’s four public institutions of higher education list information literacy (IL) as either an institutional outcome or general education outcome for their students. Despite this, communication between the four campuses on this topic was limited. Librarians from these institutions applied to be part of the grant-funded Project ALAS Faculty Fellows Program to find ways to collaborate with each other and with teaching faculty to support the development of IL skills in transfer students. Design/methodology/approach Librarians from Ventura County’s four public institutions of higher education, with funding from the Project ALAS Faculty Fellows Program, held a one-day IL summit to bring librarians and teaching faculty together to unify objectives and create a seamless IL transition for transfer students. Findings Creating an opportunity for librarians and teaching faculty to discuss the definition and potential applications of IL in courses and assignments led to positive outcomes. Teaching faculty learned about library resources and took steps to begin collaborating with their campus librarian(s). Librarians also learned about different academic expectations in various disciplines, made new connections and made plans for future IL-focused collaborations. Originality/value Studies have demonstrated that IL is a key component to student transfer success. However, this is not an element in education that can be achieved by one department alone. The collaborative effort described in this paper can serve as a model for other librarians hoping to foster dialogue and cooperation amongst their regional institutions.

Optimizing dynamics of integrated food–energy–water systems under the risk of climate change

Integrated management of food–energy–water systems (FEWS) requires a unified, flexible and reproducible approach to incorporate the interdependence between sectors, and include the risk of non-stationary environmental variations due to climate change. Most of the recently developed methods in the literature fall short of one or more aspects in such integration. In this article, we propose a novel approach based upon fundamentals of decision theory and reinforcement learning that (1) quantifies and propagates uncertainty, (2) incorporates resource interdependence, (3) includes the impact of uncontrolled variables such as climate variations, and (4) adaptively optimizes management decisions to minimize the costs and environmental impacts of crop production. Moreover, the proposed method is robust to problem-specific complexities and is easily reproducible. We illustrate the framework on a real-world case study in Ventura County, California.

Inundation, flow dynamics, and damage in the 9 January 2018 Montecito debris-flow event, California, USA: Opportunities and challenges for post-wildfire risk assessment

AbstractShortly before the beginning of the 2017–2018 winter rainy season, one of the largest fires in California (USA) history (Thomas fire) substantially increased the susceptibility of steep slopes in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties to debris flows. On 9 January 2018, before the fire was fully contained, an intense burst of rain fell on the portion of the burn area above Montecito, California. The rainfall and associated runoff triggered a series of debris flows that mobilized ∼680,000 m3 of sediment (including boulders &gt;6 m in diameter) at velocities up to 4 m/s down coalescing urbanized alluvial fans. The resulting destruction (including 23 fatalities, at least 167 injuries, and 408 damaged homes) underscores the need for improved understanding of debris-flow runout in the built environment, and the need for a comprehensive framework to assess the potential loss from debris flows following wildfire. We present observations of the inundation, debris-flow dynamics, and damage from the event. The data include field measurements of flow depth and deposit characteristics made within the first 12 days after the event (before ephemeral features of the deposits were lost to recovery operations); an inventory of building damage; estimates of flow velocity; information on flow timing; soil-hydrologic properties; and post-event imagery and lidar. Together, these data provide rare spatial and dynamic constraints for testing debris-flow runout models, which are needed for advancing post-fire debris-flow hazard assessments. Our analysis also outlines a framework for translating the results of these models into estimates of economic loss based on an adaptation of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hazus model for tsunamis.

Multidisciplinary Patient Management Improves Mortality in Geriatric Trauma Patients

Improvement in the care of the traumatically injured patient should be a goal at all trauma centers. One purpose of the data generated by the Trauma Quality Improvement Program is to provide insight which will lead to quality improvement initiatives and to promote intrinsic improvement on a center by center basis. The primary objective of this study was to measure the efficacy of instituting a multidisciplinary Trauma Medicine (T-MED) program to improve geriatric mortality at Ventura County Medical Center (VCMC). Trauma Quality Improvement Program data at VCMC before October 2013 demonstrated poor performance in treating geriatric patients. To attempt to improve outcomes, a multidisciplinary T-MED program was instituted in October 2013, which included a mandatory consultation and collaborative management with hospitalist medicine physicians for all trauma patients 65 years of age or older. The T-MED program increased focus on preexisting conditions, medication management, and discharge planning, including rehabilitation and continuity of care. Institution of a T-MED program at VCMC resulted in significant improvement in mortality rates for geriatric trauma patients.

Museum of Ventura County

Research Article| February 01 2019 Museum of Ventura County Anna Ríos Bermúdez Anna Ríos Bermúdez Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar California History (2019) 96 (1): 7–13. https://doi.org/10.1525/ch.2019.96.1.7 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Anna Ríos Bermúdez; Museum of Ventura County. California History 1 February 2019; 96 (1): 7–13. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/ch.2019.96.1.7 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentCalifornia History Search This content is only available via PDF. © 2019 by the Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press's Reprints and Permissions web page, http://www.ucpress.edu/journals.php?p=reprints.2019 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Development of treatment media for advanced stormwater treatment at an industrial site

Abstract The Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) occupies about 2,850 acres and is located in Ventura County, California. The site is jointly owned by the Boeing Company and the federal government (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration administers the federal portion of the property). Much of the site was historically used as a rocket engine testing and energy research facility from 1949 to 1998. The site stormwater discharges are permitted by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board through an individual industrial NPDES permit that includes numeric effluent limits for a wide range of constituents, including dioxins and metals. A large portion of the site uses distributed source stormwater controls with natural treatment systems utilizing chemically active media. As part of this approach, extensive research was conducted to develop a robust media for use in these controls to meet the discharge objectives. This paper describes the development of the media and its characteristics.

Mortality of Native and Non-native Fishes during Artificial Breaching of Coastal Lagoons in Southern and Central California

Fishes of California coastal streams and associated coastal lagoons have adapted to the Mediterranean-style rainfall cycle. Winter rains open the lagoons to the ocean; subsequent lack of rain and seasonal changes in beach dynamics typically closes them for much of the year. Dry and wet season artificial breaching or opening of barrier sand berms has been suspected to disrupt fish populations and lead to mortality of many aquatic organisms including federally endangered species. Such breaches have been rarely observed and then only after at least a few days or more have passed. Artificial breachings of three lagoons have been observed during or within a few hours after breaching and provide documentation of extensive disruption and mortality of aquatic organisms. These observations, Aliso Creek, Orange County (1975), Santa Clara River, Ventura County (2010), and Corcoran Lagoon, Santa Cruz County (2014-2015), confirmed many changes and effects of these events, including mortality of the federally endangered northern and southern tidewater gobies and southern steelhead. Despite the many ostensibly beneficial and non-faunal related reasons for breaching, our observations confirm such actions can cause considerable mortality of threatened and endangered species and are probably more severe than natural wet season breachings. Many city, county, as well as state and federal laws provide regulation of lagoon breaching to protect habitat and minimize or mitigate for impact to sensitive species and these need to be maintained and strengthened.

Alternative Options for Resolution of Property and Casualty Claims Arising out of Natural Disasters

At the time of this Article, at least twelve large wildfires are burn- ing in California across more than 1,000 square miles, having damaged or destroyed over 2,000 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE). At least eight people have lost their lives. The Kilauea volcano continues to erupt in Hawaii, having destroyed 600 homes. The 2018 hurricane season is in full swing, and while there have been no catastrophic events to date, residents in Houston, Florida, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere are still recovering from the devastating winds and rains wrought by Har- vey, Maria, and Irma last year. Those hurricanes are estimated to have caused more than $200 billion in damages, making the 2017 hurricane season the costliest in U.S. history. Around the world, natural disasters such as deadly heat waves, flooding, mudslides, hurricanes, and tornadoes will cause untold losses as temperatures across the globe are rising. After the smoke clears, the ash settles, the waters subside, and initial recovery efforts restore basic functions like the delivery of food, water, and electricity, survivors face the task of rebuilding. Inevitably, property and business owners either look to their insurance carriers for relief or initiate tort actions against alleged wrongdoers. In 2007, more than 2,000 law suits were filed against San Diego Gas &amp; Electric following a series of wildfires that engulfed San Diego County in California, where faulty power lines were blamed for some of the fires. Dozens of cases have been filed in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties in California relating to the deadly Thomas Fire and related devastating mudslides that killed twenty people and destroyed hundreds of homes late last year. Traditional litigation used to resolve these disputes has the potential to overwhelm the courts, consume limited resources of insurance carriers and others, and be unduly burdensome to survivors. Alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) mechanisms such as mediation can offer significant relief to the parties, permitting them to negotiate a resolution in a less formal setting than the courthouse, and usually within a shorter time frame than typical litigation would require. In situations where a mass disaster does not easily lend itself to individual mediations, however, providers can customize the process to ensure that all parties—those parties that have suffered losses, insurance carriers, and potentially responsible parties—experience a fair, economic, and efficient resolution. National ADR providers such as JAMS and the American Arbitration Association offer comprehensive, customized processes that can be tailored to meet the needs of the parties and the unique requirements of each case. Individual mediators around the country routinely provide assistance with ADR process design for complex, multi-party matters. Some examples follow.

Winds and Gusts during the Thomas Fire

We analyze observed and simulated winds and gusts occurring before, during, and immediately after the ignition of the Thomas fire of December 2017. This fire started in Ventura county during a record-long Santa Ana wind event from two closely located but independent ignitions and grew to become (briefly) the largest by area burned in modern California history. Observations placed wind gusts as high as 35 m/s within 40 km of the ignition sites, but stations much closer to them reported much lower speeds. Our analysis of these records indicate these low wind reports (especially from cooperative “CWOP” stations) are neither reliable nor representative of conditions at the fire origin sites. Model simulations verified against available better quality observations indicate downslope wind conditions existed that placed the fastest winds on the lee slope locations where the fires are suspected to have started. A crude gust estimate suggests winds as fast as 32 m/s occurred at the time of the first fire origin, with higher speeds attained later.

Brief communication: Meteorological and climatological conditions associated with the 9 January 2018 post-fire debris flows in Montecito and Carpinteria, California, USA

Abstract. The Thomas Fire burned 114 078 ha in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, southern California, during December 2017–January 2018. On 9 January 2018, high-intensity rainfall occurred over the Thomas Fire burn area in the mountains above the communities of Montecito and Carpinteria, initiating multiple devastating debris flows. The highest rainfall intensities occurred with the passage of a narrow rainband along a cold front oriented north to south. Orographic enhancement associated with moist southerly flow immediately ahead of the cold front also played a role. We provide an explanation of the meteorological characteristics of the event and place it in historic context.

Marine Debris Trends: 30 Years of Change on Ventura County and Channel Island Beaches

The persistence of plastics in marine ecosystems and the physical hazards marine debris pose to wildlife have become issues of global concern. The Santa Barbara Channel is home to a number of important marine and coastal ecosystems, including the 5 islands of Channel Islands National Park, and has a variety of factors that influence marine debris accumulation. We examined the spatial variation of marine debris density and composition across the Santa Barbara Channel by quantifying marine debris on beaches of Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands and the Ventura County mainland. Debris from surveyed beaches was cataloged, weighed, and measured to compare differences in island and mainland marine debris abundance, density, and composition. Derelict fishing gear accounted for a higher proportion of marine debris on island beaches compared to mainland beaches, and marine debris items on island beaches were significantly heavier compared to debris items on mainland beaches. The majority of debris on mainland beaches comprised smaller plastic fragments and single-use plastic items, and debris accumulation rates varied by season and location. Microplastics (plastic fibers and particles 25 mm) that were collected during marine debris cleanups. We compared our data from 2015 and 2016 with historical surveys performed from 1989 to 1994 to examine the temporal variation of marine debris on Santa Rosa Island. We found that there has been a significant increase in the amount of derelict fishing gear found on Santa Rosa Island over the past 27 years, which mirrors expansion of the California spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) fishery. This study highlights the importance of marine debris monitoring, as local changes in policy, fisheries, and consumer culture are reflected in accumulations of marine debris found on the California mainland and the uninhabited Channel Islands. Monitoring marine debris can provide insight into anthropogenic impacts and is a useful mechanism in monitoring the health of coastal and marine ecosystems.

Resource curse? The case of Kern County

The resource curse occurs when resource-rich nations grow at a slower rate than countries with fewer natural resources. Regional analyses of the resource curse have become more common. Kern County is California's top oil producing region but experiences some of the highest poverty rates in the state. This study employs the Vector Error Correction (VECM) and the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) models to investigate whether past and present values of resource abundance help explain educational attainment in Kern County. Findings from Kern County are compared with those of similar oil-producing counties in the state. Using data from 1950 to 2015, results indicate that there is no causality between oil, agricultural abundance and education in Kern County, while a long run relationship exists in Fresno County. Mixed results are obtained for Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Part of the explanation may result from the types of jobs available in these industries.