As Southern California continues to recover from the devastating wildfires, efforts to rebuild and protect the environment are ramping up. Local officials and environmental groups are working hand-in-hand to protect both people and wildlife during the ongoing wildfire recovery.

Evidence of the fire can be seen well beyond the Palisades and Eaton fires, including in the sea. Scientists on boats have been collecting data to try to figure out what the fires’ effects may be on Southern California’s coastal environment. 

On this week’s “In Focus SoCal,” host Tanya McRae sits down with Annelisa Moe, associate director of science and policy at Heal the Bay, to talk about the immediate and long-term impacts of the wildfires. 

“We’re also seeing elevated levels of PAHs, which are hydrocarbons that are associated with burned vegetated material,” Moe said. “And in fact, there is a limit on how much concentrated PAHs can be in the water before it becomes a health risk to humans.”

Moe also discussed what she and her team have seen out in the field doing water quality sampling on the shoreline.

“There’s sort of a chocolate milk texture to the water with this brownish foam that indicates the presence of higher nutrients,” Moe said. “But we’re also seeing physical debris that can cause like a physical danger to beachgoers, which includes, you know, chunks of metal, cement from the base of these structures.”

Spectrum News’ Jo Kwon takes us out on a research cruise with scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography who are researching the wildfires’ effects on the ocean.

Also on this week’s show, Spectrum News’ Kristopher Gee looks at how the Trump administration’s stance on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is affecting the arts industry. 

Palm Springs Mayor Pro Tem Naomi Soto also joins “In Focus SoCal” this week for Women’s History Month. She discussed the need for more affordable child care, including home-based day cares.

“I think there’s a great opportunity to make sure that we are connecting our housing goals with our affordable child care goals and letting people have access to support and resources and capital if they want to convert their home into a home-based daycare,” Soto said.

Soto also discussed how Palm Springs created short-term adjustments to its housing ordinance to allow residents to offer their vacation homes or their second homes to displaced families and evacuees from January’s wildfires.

“This made it so displaced families weren’t competing with paying tourists and people who wanted to really lend their spaces to people in crisis were able to do so,” Soto said. 

Send us your thoughts to InFocusSoCal@charter.com and watch at 11 a.m. on Saturdays and 9 a.m. on Sundays.