San Lorenzo Valley - Spare the Air - Monterey Bay Air Resources District

San Lorenzo Valley - Spare the Air

NO SPARE THE AIR ALERT

April 29 – May 3: The prevailing high-pressure system brings clear skies, with temperatures slowly warming this week. It will be cooler at the coast, with steady onshore winds gusting to 30-40 mph. High temperatures will be in the upper 50s at the coast and mid 70s inland. Low temperatures will be in the 40s, with patchy coastal status clouds overnight. An approaching low-pressure system may arrive Friday, bringing a chance of light rain over the weekend. Cool weather will keep ozone air quality levels GOOD. Breezy conditions keep air well mixed, so AQIs for PM2.5 (smoke) will be generally GOOD with occasional periods of MODERATE readings in the valleys during late-night/early-morning hours. The AQI for PM10 (dust) should also remain GOOD.

NO SPARE THE AIR ALERT IS IN EFFECT.

SPARE THE AIR SEASON HAS STARTED

November 3, 2023: Link to the press release/Enlace al comunicado de prensa

To reduce wintertime wood smoke in the San Lorenzo Valley, MBARD started a Spare the Air program to notify the community of days when wood burning is discouraged due to poor air quality conditions. During a Spare the Air alert, residents are asked to choose an alternative heating source such as natural gas, propane, electricity, or wood pellets. Spare the Air alerts are issued during the colder months, between November and April each year.

Do your part on Spare the Air days: Choose an alternative home heating source on Spare the Air days and spread the word to your friends and neighbors about the call to action.

Clean Wood Burning

Efficient and clean wood burning reduces smoke and harmful health impacts.

Learn five tips for an efficient fire by watching the video below.

Burning wet wood is a waste, learn why by watching the video below.

If you choose to burn wood, please remember:

Begin with a hot fire
Only burn dry, seasoned wood
Don’t use big pieces of wood, split the logs
Don’t let the fire smolder, give it enough air

Website Accessibility Policy

Monterey Bay Air Resources District is fully committed to providing accessible facilities, elements and channels of communication to all members of the public. As part of this commitment, Monterey Bay Air Resources District has a policy of providing an accessible website compatible with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) and commercial screen reading software. All features of the website are coded to allow individuals with vision and other impairments to understand and use the website to the same degree as someone without disabilities. We welcome feedback and can often resolve issues in a timely manner if they arise.

If you need any special assistance or accommodations:

Call us at (831) 647-9411

Ongoing Compliance Information

Compliance Officer

Monterey Bay Air Resources District has designated a compliance officer for website disability-related accommodations. The compliance officer has received training in website accessibility and updates the site in accordance with those best practices. Contact our accessibility officer to report an issue.

Compliance Procedures and Reports

In addition to testing with users with a wide range of disabilities and coding our website to WCAG standards, Monterey Bay Air Resources District regularly scans its website to ensure ongoing compliance, and makes timely changes to any inaccessible changes, if any are found.

Linked Documents and Third Parties

Please note that this site may link out to third-party websites, such as state or federal agencies, that do not have accessible content. This site may also include documents provided by third parties included in our agenda packets, for example. While we cannot control the accessibility of content provided by third parties, we are happy to assist any member of the public with reading and accessing content on our site.

See an opportunity for us to improve? Please contact our accessibility officer or call us at (831) 647-9411.

Report a Website Accessibility Issue

We are committed to your ability to access all content, and we will respond to all requests as soon as possible.