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Set up seasonal land monitoring

Land changes over time. A short seasonal routine catches erosion, slope movement, blocked drains and fire fuel build-up before they become emergencies.

How

1. Before the wet season: clear culverts and ditches, check outlets and erosion controls.
2. Before fire season: clear defensible space zones and road verges, and move woodpiles out of the inner zones.
3. After major storms or earthquakes: look for cracks in ground or foundations, sunken areas, tilted posts or trees, and water disappearing into holes.
4. Each year: check tree growth against the solar shade map from site-5.
5. Report suspected landslides or sinkholes to your geological survey and get a geotechnical engineer to assess.

Do these first

• site-23

Sources

1. Defensible Space. CAL FIRE (Ready for Wildfire), accessed 2026-11
2. Defensible Space: Protection Against Wildfires. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Building America Solution Center (US DOE), accessed 2026-11
3. National Preparedness Month 2020: Landslides and Sinkholes. US Geological Survey, accessed 2026-11
4. Solar Orientation: Solar Arrays and Panels. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Building America Solution Center (US DOE), accessed 2026-11

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