Digital Commons Network^™

Impacts To Anadromous Fish Through Groundwater Extraction, Aaron Hebert

Master's Projects and Capstones

California uses more groundwater than any other state in the United States in order to meet agricultural demand during the growing season when water is naturally least available due to the state’s Mediterranean climate. The state also hosts populations of anadromous fish that are otherwise found exclusively in the wetter Pacific northwest. Groundwater has historically helped maintain baseflow in the summer and fall low-flow periods and acted as a natural buffer against the regular droughts that occur in California. Today, groundwater provides 30-40% of the state’s water supply, but the pumping in many cases has reduced groundwater discharge and baseflow, …

How Can Occupancy Modeling And Occupancy Sensors Reduce Energy Usage In Academic Buildings: An Application Approach To University Of San Francisco, Paloma R. Duong

Master's Projects and Capstones

Buildings are amongst the highest energy consumers relative to industry and transportation. They account for 40% of the world’s energy consumption, due to the need for lighting, equipment, heating, cooling and ventilation. Academic buildings are multi-purpose buildings that create a challenge on energy reduction. Most are old and have fixed occupancy schedules, resulting in high energy consumption because these buildings experience significant occupancy variation throughout the day. Five academic buildings were analyzed; their building information, energy consumption data and methods to project energy savings have been analyzed. The case studies presented different strategies on predicting energy savings, but these have …

Northern San Francisco Bay Ecological Risk Assessment: Potential Crude By Rail Incident, Meagan Bowis

Master's Projects and Capstones

Oil spill models, ecological risks, response options, and costs were assessed for a discharge of Bakken crude oil into the Northern San Francisco Bay from a train derailment. This assessment was based on the risk of crude by rail derailments into the San Francisco Bay; in 2014, California oil refineries imported over 240 million gallons of Bakken crude oil by rail for processing. A hypothetical scenario was developed from a derailment on the Union Pacific Railroad Bridge and discharging 100,000 gallons of Bakken crude oil into the Northern San Francisco Bay. The oil trajectory impacted the Carquinez Strait, Suisun, San …

Artificial Recharge Of Groundwater With Recycled Municipal Wastewater In The Pajaro Valley, Olivia Heir

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

The Pajaro Valley, located along California’s Central Coast, is the State’s 5^th most productive agricultural region. Groundwater is the main source of water for the region, and due to high agricultural demand, the Pajaro Valley is facing groundwater depletion and rapid seawater intrusion. Artificial recharge of recycled water into groundwater aquifers in other locations has proven to be an effective method of mitigating groundwater depletion and seawater intrusion while providing a sustainable water supply. Two methods of artificial recharge with recycled water exist: direct injection and surface spreading (infiltration). Case studies of both methods of recharge were analyzed …

Preserving Biodiversity For A Climate Change Future: A Resilience Assessment Of Three Bay Area Species--Adenostoma Fasciculatum (Chamise), Arctostaphylos Canescens (Hoary Manzanita), And Arctostaphylos Virgata (Marin Manzanita), Alison S. Pollack

Master's Projects and Capstones

Anthropogenic climate change is an undeniable threat to the future of the natural world and human civilization. These shifts will have profound impacts on vegetation, especially for species endemic to isolated regions or sensitive to climate change factors. However, species resilience can predict success into the next century. Resilience is defined as the ability to withstand climate change factors, whereas vulnerability is defined as susceptibility to climate induced stress or damage.

Chaparral and coastal scrub ecosystems within the Bay Area of California provide a unique context for examining resilience, as many species are adapted to high temperatures, drought, and wildfire—all …

The Mexican Water Forest: Benefits Of Using Remote Sensing Techniques To Assess Changes In Land Use And Land Cover, Maria F. Lopez Ornelas

Master's Projects and Capstones

In the past 30 years, anthropogenic activities like urbanization, agriculture, road fragmentation and deforestation have resulted in changes in the land use and land cover (LULC) in the Mexican Water Forest. Due to the important ecosystem services, and the natural resources this forest provides, in Mexico, it has become increasingly necessary to use new technologies and tools to support the planning, implementation and integration of forest management and conservation plans, as well as ecological and socioeconomic analysis of this ecosystem. Remote Sensing techniques and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been a true technological and methodological revolution in the acquisition, management …

From Empty Lot To Garden Plot: Urban Agriculture In Chula Vista, Jennifer E. Gutierrez

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This project is an exploration of how agriculture can be incorporated into the fabric of the city of Chula Vista, which has both uniquely urban and suburban areas. The proposal is to integrate agriculture as a design tool to reconnect to the city’s agricultural past and as a model for cities of the future. First, I discuss Chula Vista’s history and contemporary context, including demographics. I review the existing urban agriculture policies Chula Vista has and compare them to other cities in California. The second part of the project is concerned with how to choose and develop a site for …

A Global Meta-Analysis Of Forest Bioenergy Greenhouse Gas Emission Accounting Studies, T Buchholz, M D. Hurteau, J Gunn, David Saah

Environmental Science

The potential greenhouse gas benefits of displacing fossil energy with biofuels are driving policy development in the absence of complete information. The potential carbon neutrality of forest biomass is a source of considerable scientific debate because of the complexity of dynamic forest ecosystems, varied feedstock types, and multiple energy production pathways. The lack of scientific consensus leaves decision makers struggling with contradicting technical advice. Analyzing previously published studies, our goal was to identify and prioritize those attributes of bioenergy greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions analysis that are most influential on length of carbon payback period. We investigated outcomes of 59 previously …

Contributions Of Organic And Inorganic Matter To Sediment Volume And Accretion In Tidal Wetlands At Steady State, J T. Morris, D C. Barber, John Callaway, R Chambers, S C. Hagen, C S. Hopkinson, B J. Johnson, P Megonigal, S C. Neubauer, T Troxler, C Wigand

Environmental Science

A mixing model derived from first principles describes the bulk density (BD) of intertidal wetland sediments as a function of loss on ignition (LOI). The model assumes that the bulk volume of sediment equates to the sum of self-packing volumes of organic and mineral components or BD = 1/[LOI/k₁ + (1-LOI)/k₂], where k₁ and k₂ are the self-packing densities of the pure organic and inorganic components, respectively. The model explained 78% of the variability in total BD when fitted to 5075 measurements drawn from 33 wetlands distributed around the conterminous United States. The …

Estimating China’S Urban Energy Demand And Co2 Emissions: A Bottom-Up Modeling Perspective, N Khanna, D Fridley, L Price, N Zhou, Stephanie Ohshita

Environmental Science

China is experiencing unprecedented urbanization with the urban share of population expected to grow to nearly 80% by 2050. Chinese urban residents consume nearly 1.6 times as much commercial energy as rural residents, and account for an even larger share of energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions embodied in urban infrastructure and goods. As a result, cities can play an increasingly important role in helping China meet its future energy and CO2 intensity reduction targets. While some individual cities have conducted energy and greenhouse gas emission inventories, China lacks estimates of aggregate urban energy consumption and CO2 emissions that take …

Best Cities: Software User Guide, Stephanie Ohshita, C Fino-Chen, L Hong, N Khanna

Environmental Science

The Benchmarking and Energy-Saving Tool for Low Carbon Cities (BEST Cities) is a dynamic decision-making tool, designed to assist local policy makers and urban planners in prioritizing strategies for energy and carbon saving at the city level in China.

China’s 12^th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) targets a reduction in carbon intensity of the economy (CO₂ emissions per unit of GDP) by 17%. In the "Low Carbon Development 2014-2015 energy saving action plan," the State Council calls for interim targets of more than 4% in 2014 and more than 3.5% in 2015. The …

Low-Carbon City Policy Databook: 72 Policy Recommendations For Chinese Cities From The Benchmarking And Energy Savings Tool For Low Carbon Cities, L Price, N Zhou, D Fridley, Stephanie Ohshita, N Khanna, Hongyou Lu, L Hong, G He, J Romankiewicz, M Hu

Environmental Science

This report is designed to help city authorities evaluate and prioritize more than 70 different policy strategies that can reduce their city’s energy use and carbon-based greenhouse gas emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). Local government officials, researchers, and planners can utilize the report to identify policies most relevant to local circumstances and to develop a low carbon city action plan that can be implemented in phases, over a multi-year timeframe.

The policies cover nine city sectors: industry, public and commercial buildings, residential buildings, transportation, power and heat, street lighting, water & wastewater, solid waste, and urban green …

Effects Of The Green Life Nature Education Program For 4th Grade Students Who Attend Bay Area Title One Schools: A Mixed-Methods Study, Jessica Blundell

Doctoral Dissertations

This explanatory sequential design mixed-methods evaluation measures the effects of the GLNE program on (a) students’ personal and social skills (b) students’ stewardship of the environment (c) students’ knowledge and understanding of science concepts. Quantitative survey data and qualitative data from a phenomenologically-based study are analyzed and compared in order to understand the impact of attending Green Life Nature Education (GLNE) program, the only Bay Area Residential Outdoor School that serves urban youth with no-cost programing.

The quantitative data from student surveys implies that in general, attending GLNE has a neutral impact on students. While there were several negative impacts …