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Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons™

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Sustainability

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Articles 1 - 7 of 7

Full-Text Articles in Natural Resources Management and Policy

Pumping-Induced Drawdown Of Streams In Proximity To Agricultural Wells, Sara Alina Sternberg Sep 2023

Pumping-Induced Drawdown Of Streams In Proximity To Agricultural Wells, Sara Alina Sternberg

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

In the context of unprecedented drought and aquifer overdraft in California, understanding surface water and groundwater connectivity have become increasingly important. While there is a clear understanding of how wells induce drawdown in aquifers (Theis, 1935; Hantush, 1965), secondary effects on local streams have not fully been considered. Current mathematical models targeting aquifer drawdown do not address stream drawdown response in aquifer-stream systems with strong connectivity; instead, they assume the stream to be a constant head boundary. In the drought-stricken and summer-dry climate of California, streams often run dry for months out of the year, which is currently not reflected …

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Developing A Miniature Smart Boat For Marine Research, Michael Isaac Eirinberg Jun 2022

Developing A Miniature Smart Boat For Marine Research, Michael Isaac Eirinberg

Computer Engineering

This project examines the development of a smart boat which could serve as a possible marine research apparatus. The smart boat consists of a miniature vessel containing a low-cost microcontroller to live stream a camera feed, GPS telemetry, and compass data through its own WiFi access point. The smart boat also has the potential for autonomous navigation. My project captivated the interest of several members of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo’s (Cal Poly SLO) Marine Science Department faculty, who proposed a variety of fascinating and valuable smart boat applications.

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Climate Adaptation And Water Conservation Decision-Making In Paso Robles, California Vineyards, Christopher R. Klier Aug 2021

Climate Adaptation And Water Conservation Decision-Making In Paso Robles, California Vineyards, Christopher R. Klier

Master's Theses

This paper examines vineyard perceptions and adoption of climate change adaptation and water conservation measures in the Paso Robles American Viticultural Area (AVA). A survey was distributed to all 220 vineyards and vineyard management companies that operate in the AVA, with a 53.64% response rate. The objective of the survey was to determine vineyard manager and owner attitudes towards climate change and adaptation, as well as their perceptions of how these threats would impact their operation. A second objective was to document the current level of water conservation and climate adaptation while identifying the barriers and opportunities for further adoption …

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Light Pollution Research Through Citizen Science, John Kanemoto Aug 2014

Light Pollution Research Through Citizen Science, John Kanemoto

STAR Program Research Presentations

Light pollution (LP) can disrupt and/or degrade the health of all living things, as well as, their environments. The goal of my research at the NOAO was to check the accuracy of the citizen science LP reporting systems entitled: Globe at Night (GaN), Dark Sky Meter (DSM), and Loss of the Night (LoN). On the GaN webpage, the darkness of the night sky (DotNS) is reported by selecting a magnitude chart. Each magnitude chart has a different density/number of stars around a specific constellation. The greater number of stars implies a darker night sky. Within the DSM iPhone application, a …

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Water In The 21st Century, Grayson Michael Shor Jun 2014

Water In The 21st Century, Grayson Michael Shor

Social Sciences

The aim of this research project is to provide a comprehensive and global analysis of water use in order to provide the reader with a comprehensive grasp of current and impending issues. The included five (5) chapters discuss water distribution, conservation, purification, law, international development, economic debates, ethical consideration, as well as educated estimations of the effects water related issues may cause in the next one-hundred years.

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Simulated Effects Of Varied Landscape-Scale Fuel Treatments On Carbon Dynamics And Fire Behavior In The Klamath Mountains Of California, Kevin J. Osborne Dec 2011

Simulated Effects Of Varied Landscape-Scale Fuel Treatments On Carbon Dynamics And Fire Behavior In The Klamath Mountains Of California, Kevin J. Osborne

Master's Theses

I utilized forest growth model (FVS-FFE) and fire simulation software (FlamMap, Randig), integrated through GIS software (ArcMap9.3), to quantify the impacts varied landscape-scale fuel treatments have on short-term onsite carbon loss, long-term onsite carbon storage, burn probability, conditional flame length, and mean fire size. Thirteen fuel treatment scenarios were simulated on a 42,000 hectare landscape in northern California: one untreated, three proposed by the US Forest Service, and nine that were spatially-optimized and developed with the Treatment Optimization Model in FlamMap. The nine scenarios developed in FlamMap varied by treatment intensity (10%, 20%, and 30% of the landscape treated) and …

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Sustainable Agriculture: A Time For Education, Kortnie Millhouse Jun 2010

Sustainable Agriculture: A Time For Education, Kortnie Millhouse

Agricultural Education and Communication

This study used a fifteen-question survey to identify the articulation between education of water quality practices and the willingness to implement sustainable water quality techniques on farmland according to twenty-five agricultural operations residing on the Central Coast. Questions one through eight asked respondents to indicate their agreement or disagreement with various water quality assessment tools. Questions nine through twelve asked respondents to personally rate their operation’s level of water quality management on a scale from one to ten. Questions thirteen through fifteen were open-ended questions to generate responses about demographics. Consensus was reached that the higher the level of education …

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