The purpose of this professional project is to address the practical implications of decentralized greywater usage in the City of Arroyo Grande. This professional project consists of two products: a brief greywater guide for the City and a background report. The greywater guide is intended for city planners to use for general information about greywater systems. The guide addresses Arroyo Grande’s potable water shortage; what greywater is; advantages and concerns about greywater use; plants that are tolerant and intolerant of greywater irrigation; appropriate detergents to use with a greywater system; and a summary of California greywater law. The background report discusses the City of Arroyo Grande’s potable water conditions and how water supply will be affected by growth projections for 2030. It is estimated that by the year 2030, Arroyo Grande’s water demand will outgrow its water supply by 283 acre feet. Future water shortages are a concern at a local level and also on a global level. Three case studies examine how water scarcity has prompted the successful use of greywater. These studies examine the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; the Casa del Agua project in Arizona; and a local study in Santa Barbara, California. The report concludes with California greywater law, and how the recent change in August, 2009 has greatly increased the legal accessibility of greywater reuse as an obtainable method of water conservation. In combination with education and outreach among city officials and residents, greywater has potential to play a main role in water conservation in Arroyo Grande.

Thesis (M.S.)--California Polytechnic State University, 2009. / Title from PDF title page; viewed on July 14, 2009. Major professor: Paul Wack, AICP. "Presented to the faculty of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo." "In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of City and Regional Planning "May 2009." Includes bibliographical references. Will also be available on microfiche.

Through a grounded theory methodology data collection around early childhood experiences with nature leading towards positive civic engagement with the community, the theory of cultural entropy emerged along with a policy recommendation for reconnecting the community to the local watershed. Through qualitative interviews with lifelong residents and analysis of essays from local high school students comparing early experiences with nature, the theory of cultural entropy emerged to explain how perceptions and interactions with the local landscape changed across generations. With the help of key information interviews, archival research, and exploration of the local watershed, cultural entropy was used to theorize how the work culture should do towards protecting and passing along ecological, cultural, and historical knowledge that might help increase civic engagement. Lifelong residents participating in the research were found to have high levels of civic engagement through participation with the local historical society and/or recommendations from people because of their involvement with the community. More than any other theme, the importance of the Arroyo Grande Creek emerged as a significantly early experience in nature amongst all lifelong residents. In contrast, this experience was completely gone from the early experiences by the high school students participating in this study. Creation of the dam, channelization of the creek, and invasive species introduction have almost eliminated access to the creek, and invasive species introduction have almost eliminated access to the creek. Very little evidence was found along the entire stretch of creek from dam to ocean of kids playing in the creek. This is theorized to be a product of larger cultures from outside this local ecosystem diffusing into the local culture, creating disconnect from local ecosystem knowledge. A policy recommendation is to create an interpretive greenbelt system along an already existing dirt farm road controlled by local agricultural land, promoting community engagement with the local watershed. Because so much of the key ecological, historical, and cultural knowledge of the area centers around the watershed, it is hypothesized that a greenbelt system has potential for reversing cultural entropy, increasing ecological, historical, and cultural knowledge of the area, and promoting civic engagement.

In preparation for a Climate Action Plan, this policy and practice audit provides an overview of current city policies and practices with the potential to impact greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals. The audit builds upon information previously collected in a GHG emissions inventory report to identify policies that are consistent or inconsistent with emissions reductions goals. Preliminary GHG emissions reductions recommendations address policy gaps and opportunity areas in suggesting strategies to achieve GHG emissions reductions.

The City of Arroyo Grande, California has a problem administering the regulations of five Planned Developments in the City. This problem arises from these regulations being included in a 167-page appendix at the back of the City’s Development Code. This appendix includes the original approvals for the Developments. It also includes amendments to those approvals. These amendments are only added to the appendix. Therefore, changes to the regulations governing the Planned Developments are not tracked. It takes City staff considerable amounts of time to research answers when members of the public have questions regarding development in one of these Developments. Because of the numerous pages that must be read through to track the changes to one of the districts, there is no guarantee that the information presented to the inquirer is accurate. This can lead to issues when the rules are not consistently applied. The purpose of this project is to investigate an appropriate method to address this problem.

A numerical model for the NCMA aquifer complex is presented. The objective of the study is to develop a numerical groundwater model for the NCMA aquifer system to enhance the understanding of subsurface groundwater flow. Infiltration, streamflow, pumping, and return flows are implemented to characterize the aquifer complex over time. The numerical model is calibrated to municipal and monitoring well data, average monthly water balances, and hydraulic contours. Transient aquifer inflows and outflows are assessed in the results of the study and are compared to balance terms from previous studies. The 2007 Todd Engineers Study subsurface inflows and outflows generate well hydrographs that have greater heads than observed data. Calibration to well hydrographs generated increased subsurface outflow values and decreased subsurface inflow values. It is possible that approximately 250 AFY is leaving aquifer storage.