Doreen Hansen
Watershed Program Manager, Humboldt County Resource Conservation District
On California’s northern coast, just south of Eureka, the Eel River completes an 800-mile journey, meeting the Pacific Ocean at an expansive and beautiful estuary. Over 200 years ago, when settlers arrived in the region, this landscape began to change with the development of man-made levees, dikes, and tide gates that protect agricultural lands from the surrounding waterways. Today, this estuary is facing an unprecedented threat. Sea-level rise, intensifying storms, and subsiding land have converged and led to frequent and destructive flooding events with no easy fix. This crisis threatens the safety of rural residents, the ancestral lands of local Native American Tribes, and the livelihoods of farmers.
For the last 15 years, Doreen Hansen has been working to restore equilibrium to the Eel River watershed as part of the Humboldt County Resource Conservation District (HCRCD). With degrees in marine biology and natural resource economics, Doreen applies her experience working with commercial fishermen to act as a liaison between HCRCD and agricultural producers who rely on the Eel. She recognizes that solving climate and ecological challenges in the region isn’t as simple as rebuilding failing flood control infrastructure, it requires "empathetic community visioning". By bringing together different residents, businesses and Tribes, Doreen is focused on finding solutions that will work for the community, not just individuals. Doreen has a wealth of knowledge on both ecological functions and the concerns of locals, making her well suited to lead the team responsible for conducting a comprehensive sea-level rise vulnerability assessment for the estuary.
“To have our partners, including our consultants, already being known in the areas where we’re going to be working and really trying to pick somebody that people trust, and who have a good reputation not only with the landowners, but also, they actually do really good work in developing a project. So, that’s my job, to create a project team that’s trustworthy and reputable for those community members that we’re working with.”
Instead of imposing a top-down approach, Doreen has built a plan with long-term relationship building and trust at its core. This starts by pairing scientific data with the lived experiences of the community, ensuring the team has a thorough understanding of where flooding is affecting people. Doreen and the HCRCD are showcasing how resiliency planning, when rooted in trust and community preparedness, can navigate complex problems and strike a balance between human, cultural, agricultural, and wildlife needs in the face of a changing climate.
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HCRCD’s sea-level rise vulnerability assessment was funded by the Sea Level Rise Adaptation Planning Grant Program.