Can 500 new trees help cool Indio’s neighborhoods?

INDIO, CALIF. (KESQ)- Triple digit heat is a daily reality in the Valley. Trees can lower surface and air temperatures, provide shade, improve air quality, and reduce the urban heat island effect.

The trees are specifically going into underserved neighborhoods that often have less tree coverage.

In a sustainability commission meeting on Monday, staff said the city will receive the trees in the upcoming months, with 250 to be planted in public spaces and the other half to be planted in private spots.

The Imperial Irrigation District, in partnership with the Coachella Valley Association of Governments, was awarded the grant funding last year from Cal Fire's Inflation Reduction Act grant.

Teresa Rodriguez, a resident and a worker in Indio says "There needs to be more shade around some of the bus transportation areas where people take the bus and commute to work."

Mayor Elaine Holmes says "Trees make any city, any environment look absolutely beautiful, but more importantly, it becomes a function of shade-we want our city to be absolutely walkable. In these temperatures, you need to have shade."

Half of these trees will be planted in public spaces, and the other half will be available to residents through an application process.

"There's a grant process that we'll be going through and selecting from the those that have entered or have put together a application, to have trees in their homes" Holmes said.

Mayor Holmes says the project is more than planting trees its about providing an enviorment thats calming, cooling, and a place where people can walk and enjoy their day.