Posts Tagged: London
From fracking to water affordability, UC takes on new water-related research
High-volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a form of natural gas and oil extraction, is water-intensive and could exacerbate water stress. Gwen Arnold, professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at UC Davis, is examining efforts to locally restrict high-volume hydraulic fracturing.
“There's a lot of concern over water pollution and water use in communities,” said Doug Parker, UC ANR California Institute for Water Resources director. “We're looking at the characteristics of communities that have voted on measures to restrict the practice of fracking, both where the measures have failed and where they've passed.”
Parker expects that people on either side of the issue will be able to use the study's finding to better understand differing viewpoints. Decision-makers who may be contemplating policy action on fracking will also benefit from seeing the range of relevant policies passed by other jurisdictions and the conditions that appear to favor or discourage adoption of the policies.
Another research project is assessing the Integrated Regional Water Management approach to address the lack of safe and affordable water in disadvantaged communities throughout the state. In 2011, the California Department of Water Resources funded seven pilot projects to develop models for improving water supplies for these communities.
“We want to take a look at how well Integrated Regional Water Management worked, whether it is meeting the needs of providing safe, affordable drinking water,” Parker said.
Jonathan London, professor in the Department of Human Ecology and director of the Center for Regional Change at UC Davis, and Carolina Balazs, UC presidential postdoctoral research fellow at UC Davis, are evaluating the impact of those efforts in Inyo-Mono counties, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles County, Kings Basin, North Coast, Imperial Valley and Coachella Valley.
- Roya Bahreini, professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at UC Riverside, is looking at the relationship between water management and air quality in the Salton Sea region of southern California, where low water levels are leading to increased dust from the dry lakebed.
- Igor Lacan, UC ANR Cooperative Extension advisor in San Mateo-San Francisco counties, is investigating the performance of trees used in streetside stormwater management facilities, which are increasingly common in cities across California as communities look for ways to increase groundwater infiltration.
- Bruce Linquist, UC ANR Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences UC Davis, is quantifying methylmercury loads from rice fields to determine whether they may be of concern.
- Clarissa Nobile, professor in the School of Natural Sciences at UC Merced is using a high-tech metagenomic approach to research a potential problem for groundwater wells across the state: biofouling, which has the potential to be a costly challenge.
Learn more about these and other California Institute for Water Resources research projects by visiting http://ciwr.ucanr.edu/CIWR_Making_a_difference.
The California Institute for Water Resources integrates California's research, extension, and education programs to develop research-based solutions to the state's water resource challenges. An initiative to maintain and enhance healthy families and communities is part of the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Strategic Vision 2025.
Jack London State Park Visit
Sometimes you just have to get out of the house! Sometimes you have to get out of town! I did. I ran away to the Jack London State Park in Glen Ellen and took a docent led tour of the Cottage Garden.
The park is what remains of the seven ranches referred to as Beauty Ranch that author Jack London and his wife Charmaine purchased beginning in 1905 in The Valley of the Moon. The couple built their dream home, Wolf House, on the property, but shortly before they were to move in it burned to the ground. They lived in the Cottage until 1916 when London died. Charmaine continued to live in the cottage until 1934 when the House of Happy Walls was completed in 1934.
Jack London took up organic gardening while living at Beauty Ranch. He had a vineyard on the property, but there is no mention of him making wine.
The home farm portion of the ranch became a dude ranch between 1944 and 1946. It was operated by Eliza London Shepard, Jack's step sister and ranch manager.
Charmaine died in 1955 and the property was turned over to the State in 1960. In 1997, Jenny Randal took on the job of reviving the Cottage Garden. She remains today and led our tour.
Jenny treated us to a power point presentation of photos going back to the early twentieth century when Jack and Charmaine London created Beauty Ranch. Once Wolf House was destroyed and they were forced to make their home at the Cottage, they created the garden that Jenny has been working on for over fifteen years. Her research is based on photos, correspondence, and writings of the London’s.
The garden area was surrounded in those days by a snow fence. Perhaps this kept the deer and assorted critters such as bobcat and mountain lions away. The old photos show several large live oak and black locust trees and one huge palm tree adjacent to the garden. Most of the black locust trees are gone, but several young ones remain with the oaks and the even grander palm tree.
A pond was built in the garden and it was surrounded by cannas and Shasta daisies. It was filled with Koi then as it is now.
The daisies may have been a gift from their creator Luther Burbank, another resident of Sonoma County at the time. There are photos of the two men together on the Burbank website, but Jenny does not think the two men were close friends.
The garden that is there today is a "cultural garden" meant to depict what was probably planted there at the time the London's were in residence. If so, the list in a long one and includes many of the plants I have in my own garden. Even before the tour started I made a list of what I saw planted there. I think you will find most of these familiar to you:
yarrow, roses, California poppies, Salvia, daylilies, Clivia, iris, Agapanthus, peony, Nepeta, Bears Breech (Acanthus mollis), society garlic, Euphorbia, rosemary, callas, periwinkle, violets, nasturtium, bamboo, Shasta daisies, Santa Barbara daisies, scented geraniums, Penstemon, agave, ginger, Buddleia, lilac, Pride of Madera, fortnight lilies, lavender, Cistus, verbena, lungwort, nut sedge, California fuchsia, breath of heaven, and Gaillardia.
California poppy. (photo by Jennifer Baumbach)
San Joaquin Valley residents face pollution hazards
While California's San Joaquin Valley is home to some of the nation's richest agricultural resources, half of the people who live and work there face elevated levels of air and water pollution coupled with poverty, limited education, language barriers, and racial and ethnic segregation, according to a three-year UC Davis study.
The study, "Land of Risk/Land of Opportunity," also found that residents of the region report more environmental hazards than are currently documented or addressed by state agencies.
"Our conclusion is that immediate and comprehensive action is needed by local, regional and state policymakers to protect the health and well-being of the region's most vulnerable residents," said study leader Jonathan London, director of the UC Davis Center for Regional Change and an assistant professor of human and community development.
The study was conducted in partnership with the San Joaquin Valley Cumulative Health Impact Project, a community-university partnership with environmental health and social justice organizations in the San Joaquin Valley. This work is consistent with UC Davis' goals of seeking knowledge and solutions that sustain and improve quality of life for people in neighboring regions and around the world.
The study uses a new measure developed by scholars on this project, but drawn from methods used by other researchers -- the Cumulative Environmental Vulnerability Assessment -- to identify the locations and populations within the San Joaquin Valley that are at greatest risk.
According to that measure, 51 percent of San Joaquin Valley residents experience high cumulative environmental vulnerability, with more than half of those experiencing acute cumulative vulnerability.
Home to 4 million people, the San Joaquin Valley spans 300 miles through the center of the state. The region is a major transportation artery connecting northern and southern California and contains three of what the U.S. Department of Agriculture designates the nation's top-producing agricultural counties -- Fresno, Kern and Tulare.
The report found:
* The cumulative dangers were not evenly distributed across the region. Some of the communities facing the greatest levels of acute vulnerability include west Fresno, Monterey Park, Kettleman City, Matheny Tract, Earlimart and Wasco.
* Environmental and social vulnerability among at-risk populations persist, despite special attention from regulators and policymakers.
* Those with limited education and English fluency face difficulties advocating on their own behalf.
"With this report, we finally have the data that can lead to collaboration and action," said Kevin Hamilton, deputy chief of programs at Clinica Sierra Vista and a member of the San Joaquin Valley Cumulative Health Impact Project. "It's obvious to all that there are health and other disparities, but there's been a lack of data available to help communities, businesses and government collaborate to take next steps."
The report recommends that analysis of cumulative effects uncovered in the study be integrated into existing policy and planning frameworks in the region, and that special attention be focused on higher-risk areas.
"With one in two residents at elevated risk and one in three at extreme risk, now is the time to solve big problems by looking at the big picture. Without broad discussion and creative solutions, the San Joaquin Valley, especially its children, can't reach its full potential," said Sarah Sharpe, of Fresno Metro Ministry, who coordinates the San Joaquin Valley Cumulative Health Impacts Project.
"This report provides policymakers, government agency leaders, and community activists a tool to measure the cumulative impacts on Valley residents and a road map to prioritizing solutions to these problems."
The study was supported by funding from the Ford Foundation, the UC Davis John Muir Institute of the Environment, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Community Forestry and Environmental Resource Partnerships graduate fellowship.
The report is available at http://regionalchange.ucdavis.edu/projects/current/ceva-sjv.
![Color-coded maps showing cumulative environmental vulnerability assessment of the San Joaquin Valley. Color-coded maps showing cumulative environmental vulnerability assessment of the San Joaquin Valley.](http://ucanr.org/blogs/ANRnewsreleases/blogfiles/9266.jpg)
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