Carrizo Plain School to Fly Air Quality Flags

San Luis Obispo County -
Headed west from the sunburned California town of Maricopa, a traveler on the Cuyama Highway, (state route 166) passes by the windswept portions of the Los Padres National Forest, and the small agricultural towns which serve the growers and farmworkers of this central California area. Not too far from Interstate 5, past the town of Cuyama, the road rises into the hills above the Carrizo Plain, where ranchers and farmers work alongside oil and gas interests that dot the landscape. Occasional pumps tap wells that have been providing water and oil for decades. Under a cloudless, moonlit night during the summer, the air is often lifeless and hot, just as it was nearly 300 years ago, and a traveler might rely upon air conditioning from their vehicle to remain comfortable.

Springtime near Carrizo Plain Nat. Monument, San Luis Obispo County

This week, the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District began a program to alert their citizens of the level of air quality in this sparsely populated part of their county. What makes the program here on the Carrizo Plain so unique is that it is largely a rural portion of the state and county and includes only 175 homes and a population of less than 300 people. At the Carrizo Plain School, located one mile west of Soda Lake on state highway 58, a colored flag is now flying to indicate the level of the area’s air quality, which also covers Carrizo Plain National Monument. With levels of air quality represented by six colors, (green means good air; yellow is moderate air quality; orange is unhealthy for sensitive groups; red is unhealthy; purple means very unhealthy and maroon is hazardous air) the program began this week including additional information continually available on the county's air quality website.

APCD officials indicate that the flag program will expand throughout the coming year to include other locations within the county.