HIGHLIGHTS

Environmental Sustainability

"Engineer, inventor, architect and futurist Buckminster Fuller once said, “I am a passenger on the spaceship Earth.”

We all are. Doing what we can today to stave off the ill effects of climate change and create more sustainable communities and environment is important to us all. The County continues to work hard on these issues, from reducing greenhouse gas emissions generated by building and operating our own buildings in the unincorporated areas, to creating more sustainable communities.

Sustainability in Action

In August 2024, the County Board of Supervisors approved a “Green Street” project in Fallbrook that will protect the area’s watershed by filtering stormwater to reduce or remove trash and pollution before it can flow to creeks, rivers and the ocean. The project, located along South Mission Road, will install a trash capture device under the road and a biofiltration basin that improves the landscaping above it. The trash capture device will remove trash, sediment and debris. The biofiltration basin will remove bacteria and nutrients from stormwater that would otherwise enter the San Luis Rey River.

In September 2024, the Board adopted the County’s 2024 Climate Action Plan, the blueprint for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the unincorporated areas and at County facilities, with the goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2045. The plan includes 70 actions designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The County’s Parks and Recreation Department and its community partners planted 4,657 trees in the past year to naturally remove carbon dioxide from the air and lower temperatures. Some of those trees were planted in communities deemed by the California Healthy Places Index to be in need of increased shade from healthy trees.

In May, the County Board of Supervisors voted to spend $5.1 million to buy 540 acres of land to expand the existing 6,900 acre Santa Ysabel County Preserves. The new land will yield numerous environmental benefits. It will help conserve some of San Diego’s sensitive habitat, including chamise chapparal and Englemann oaks. It will protect sensitive species including mountain lion, mule deer and the Stephen’s kangaroo rat. And it will support County objectives to promote sustainability, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect air and water quality and provide flood control benefits.

“I fell hard and since Ranger James was prompt on making his rounds for fires, he saw me trying to extinguish it and my hard fall. He put out the fire for me and offered me first aid! I have never had such great care while camping and it was a comfort camping alone as a woman to have such a friendly team.”

- Alyx S., William Heise County Park Visitor

County of San Diego - Government

Park Maintenance Worker Omar Torres captured these shots of some deer taking a "snack break" in Lake Morena County Park.

Top Comment

wildfoodietours
So lucky to call San Diego home 🔥😍

In August 2025, the new San Diego County Public Health Laboratory that was opened in May was recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council as having achieved the highest “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” — LEED — certification possible. The council runs the LEED certification program and calls it the most widely recognized green building rating system in the world. The new lab was the 34th County facility to earn the rating.

The County currently has:

11 “Zero Net Energy” buildings that produce more energy than the building consumes over the course of a year.

70 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings.

566 public and fleet electric vehicle charging ports with plans for at least 200 more.

3 facilities built with embodied carbon materials such as concrete with less cement, more energy-efficient produced steel and using wood in place of other materials.

16MW onsite solar on County facilities.

The County’s Aging & Independence Services has helped open seven community gardens, including one in Linda Vista that turned a vacant lot into a garden of blossoms, fresh produce, flowers and budding friendships.