CHARM Lake County

Through collaboration with Tribal, community, county, and state organizations, CHARM aims to improve improve the ability of Lake County communities to prepare for and adapt to HABs and extreme heat by:

• Characterizing the health impacts of heat and HABs
• Assessing existing emergency response plans and resources, as well as gaps and barriers
• Identifying vulnerable communities
• Exploring awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about these events within vulnerable communities.

Project activities include literature reviews, data analyses, community data collection (surveys, focus groups, interviews) and a tabletop exercise to plan for an extreme heat event.  We will work with the project’s Working Group to synthesize these findings and develop an Action Plan for improved communication, coordination, and planning during HABs and heat events within Lake County. 

This two year project is led by  Tracking California  (a program of the Public Health Institute) and the  Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians  and is funded by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Partners in this work also include local Tribes, county agencies, and non-governmental and community-based organizations. See  Working Group  for a detailed list.

Lake County is located 100 miles north of the San Francisco Bay Area in rural Northern California. It has a year-round population of 65,000, with a higher transient population in summer with vacationers. Median household income for the region is low compared to the state, with a high proportion of residents in poverty (19%), the fourth highest poverty rate among California counties. Lake County has a growing elderly population, with more than 20% of the population aged 65 and older, and many of them dependent on Medicare and Medi-Cal.

Clear Lake is California’s largest freshwater lake and an important cultural resource for Tribes in the county and broader Region. The lake, which provides drinking water for over 60% of the county's residents, is currently in it's fourth year of severe drought. The lake has had heavy recreational use and been plagued by environmental problems such as HABs and heavy metal contamination.  Residents in the lake’s surrounding area who live near or are impacted by HABs include seven distinct Tribal communities (4,000 residents) and low-income populations. 

Many residents lack air conditioning, work outdoors, or have chronic health conditions, and their health is threatened as the number of extreme heat days grow.

During hot weather, people are exposed to both heat and higher levels of air pollutants. Heat accelerates the formation of certain air pollutants and traps them closer to the ground. This combination increases the risk of respiratory, cardiovascular, and other health effects.

To the right, you'll see the number of visits to the Emergency Department (per 10,000 people) for heat-related illness (HRI) in Lake County as compared to all of California since 2005.

In 2017, corresponding with the Northern California wildfires, the rate in Lake County was over 4 times that of the state in general. In 2022, the rate was still more than double.

During extreme heat events, individuals with asthma may experience exacerbated symptoms due to increased air pollution and the strain on their lung function caused by high temperatures.

Lake County residents have consistently higher rates of emergency room visits for asthma over the past 20 years.

(Also known as Harmful Algal Blooms or HABS)

Cyanobacterial blooms are an annual occurrence during summer and fall in Clear Lake. Toxins produced by cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) threaten human & animal health.

Follow the  CalWATCH  program's monitoring of cyanobacterial blooms in Lake County for more information!