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the floor of the valley has dropped in recent decades with increased groundwater pumping by farms, meaning more land might be subject to inundation,

Flood protection in California is largely a local affair, with water agencies, special districts and private companies building and maintaining the infrastructure. Smaller towns, like those in the San Joaquin Valley, often don’t have the money to develop their own levee systems, and while the state and federal government help out, winning investment from them isn’t easy.

The Tulare Lake basin also doesn’t have major Army Corps of Engineers flood projects to buffer large amounts of water as do some areas such as the Sacramento region.

The current crisis is the opposite of the usual one--instead of fighting over who gets access to water, groups are fighting over how to get rid of it.

Farmers, residents, municipal work crews, and hired contractors are reinforcing levees, pumping out excess water, and evacuating livestock, equipment, and homes.

One group was hired to protect a supply warehouse 3 miles south of Corcoran.

J.G. Boswell Company, which mainly produces cotton, owns most of the lowlands that are the Tulare Lake bed. They have allowed some fields to flood in efforts to protect other areas (the most productive farmland). The County Board of Supervisors forced them to cut another levee and flood more land because they weren't doing enough to protect populated areas.

"Flood protection in California is largely a local affair, with water agencies, special districts and private companies building and maintaining the infrastructure. Smaller towns, like those in the San Joaquin Valley, often don’t have the money to develop their own levee systems, and while the state and federal government help out, winning investment from them isn’t easy. The Tulare Lake basin also doesn’t have major Army Corps of Engineers flood projects to buffer large amounts of water as do some areas such as the Sacramento region."

Tulare lake used to be the largest body of water east of the Mississipppi. It had ports, steamships, elk and antelope. 40 different Yokut groups lived on its shores.

Permitted Facilities: Through the CalEPA Regulated Site Portal we can easily identify regulated facilities from five state databases and two federal databases. Data collected from agencies such as: U.S. EPA, State Water Boards, CalEPA, and Department of Toxic Substances Control. These sites are regulated due to their potential hazard to local communities. Health impact depends on the facility. 1,957 regulated facilities in Santa Ana according to databases listed above.

RMP Facilities: RMP (Risk Management Plan) facilities are managed by the CalARP program. These sites contain large amounts of extremely hazardous state regulated chemicals. These chemicals are regulated by the state due to their potential risk to the public. Gallade’s three sites in Santa Ana have high quantities of regulated chemicals. 2 RMPs in Santa Ana, Gallade Chemical Inc. is an RMP half a mile from Madison Park. Has not been inspected in three years. The BEHR Standard facility is the second RMP facility.

Metal Plating Facilities: Metal plating facilities use hexavalent chromium through the electroplating process and stainless steel production. Hexavalent Chromium can be released as an aerosol through chrome plating processes. “…hexavalent chromium should be considered a human carcinogen for which there is no safe threshold exposure level.”(California Air resources Board. 2022). There 112 metal plating facilities in Santa Ana that are regulated by the state. Majority of these regulated facilities are located in South East Santa Ana.

 Hexavalent Chromium Info links:

• Hexavalent Chromium - Overview | Occupational Safety and Health Administration (osha.gov)

• Hexavalent Chromium Factsheet (nih.gov)

Homeless shelter and support center: https://www.ocregister.com/2022/07/22/motorcycle-club-brings-hope-and-harleys-to-homeless-shelter. 

Is this center considered an asset by residents, or -- as in many places -- did they contest its presence in Santa Ana given so many other stresses there? 

From my notes taken during the MPNA-GREEN and UCI EcoGov Lab event on June 4, 2022

• Downtown Santa Ana (DTSA) Art Walk: "community-based arts showcase across downtown Santa Ana from 6pm-10pm on the First Saturday of each month." The showcase exhibits artists from the Santa Ana and wider OC community 
• Comunidad Unida Aire Limpio (Comité CUAL): One of the first of its kind in Southern California, this community monitoring air network in Santa Ana established as a grant by the California Air Resources Board has a network of over twenty Dylos air monitors which offer air quality data to residents for environmental justice characterization. 
• Community Resource Fairs & Walkathons: MPNA has hosted community resource fairs and walkathons, such as the 15th Annual Madison Park Neighborhood Association Walk-A-Thon in 2017. According to the resident who shared picture of a community resource fair, these events offer opportunities for entire families to exercise, bike, and walk, and overall having a festive time. 
• The Frida Cinema: Orange County's only non-profit arthouse and independent theater. The Cinema has a long history of partnering with social and environmental justice organizing for community mobilization. 
• Santa Ana Movies in the Park: "The Santa Ana Movies in the Park series will take place every Wednesday, beginning June 8 through August 31, 2022 at various City parks throughout Santa Ana. Pre-movie festivities will begin at 5:30 p.m. and will include exhibitors, jumpers, and arts and crafts for kids. Movie screenings will begin promptly at dusk. Free popcorn will be provided to the first 500 guests each night, while supplies last. Food vendors will also be offering affordable and delicious dinner and dessert options. The series is free to attend."
• ALMA Science Academy: "Aspire, Learn, Mentor & Achieve (ALMA) Science Academy is a STEM education and mentorship program for under-resourced Santa Ana youth grades 4-6". 
• Santa Ana College: Opened in 1915 for students from Santa Ana High School, this fourth oldest community college in California serves over 18,000 undergraduate students. 

Linked below is a data analysis on the CalEPA Regulated Facilities Portal, click on my annotation to view full analysis.

CalEPA Regulated Facilities Portal: Data Analysis | Disaster STS Network (disaster-sts-network.org)

Byron Good, Ph.D., is a professor of Medical Anthropology at Harvard Medical School. His primary area of research is mental illness and how social perceptions evolves around these issues, in terms of both treatment and social acceptance. Dr. Good has several works on these issues, including several that explore the perspective of bio-medicine in non-western medical knowledge, the cultural meaning of mental illness, and patient narrative during illness. His publications including several papers, books, and edited volumes; he is regarded as a major contributor to the field of psychological anthropology. 

The article primarily asserts that how a patient narrates or describes their medical history is deeply rooted in their native culture. As such, physicians must be aware of how an individual's medical experiences can be altered based on this. In turn, physicians must recognize the importance of story-telling and anecdotes when receiving information directly from patients. Narratives project the patient's experience and events through their perspective, granting professionals a glimpse into their thought processes and action patterns.