Our land use policy choices have consequences in the spheres of economic development, social equity, and the natural environment. Because land use policy choices are made through a “political” process, and are generally accomplished by writing and implementing laws and regulations, it is vitally important that ordinary members of the community get involved in the process. When public participation goes down, the result is almost always that private interests end up making the rules that we then all have to live by. If we don’t get personally involved, ourselves, then what we think of as “self-government” winds up being a system in which we elect the people, who hire the people, who run our lives for us.

It is not easy to find effective ways to engage the public in the important land use policy decisions that will shape our future. Today, I want to alert interested members of the public, and also interested elected and non-elected officials at the local government level, of some help that is available, an opportunity to get free technical assistance to maximize what is often called “smart growth” planning. Smart Growth America, whose tagline is, “making neighborhoods great together,” is offering technical assistance grants to local communities. You can get details below. The application deadline is October 25th.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Information on Smart Growth America Technical Assistance Grants

Transportation policies and projects have a major impact on land use. In Monterey County, even with a major toll road proposal on the table, it’s still likely that water policy and water project decisions may be even more important. Currently, lots of attention is focused on water policy and project decisions affecting the Monterey Peninsula, but every part of Monterey County is dealing with critical water policy and water project issues. To mention one that is easy to overlook, recent proposals to allow “fracking” projects in both South Monterey County, and in the Aromas area, have massive implications for the quantity and quality of Monterey County’s groundwater resources.

A week or so ago, I read an opinion piece, printed in the Monterey County Herald, titled, “North County needs say in water issues.” The article, by Julie Engell, makes a very good case for this proposition. Engell is described as “a land-use activist with particular expertise on North County issues.” You can get a link to her article at kusp.org/landuse.

Engell says, “unless North Monterey County pays … close attention to plans being developed by the Monterey County Water Resources Agency, [North County] residents may end up paying … more for … water they … never [even] get.” Take a look at Engell’s article, and then think about getting personally involved.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Monterey County Herald Op Ed Opinion on North County Water

Tomorrow night, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., a group called “Engineers for Water Alternatives” will present a forum on “Groundwater Recharge: A Storage Strategy.” The forum is going to be held at the Louden Nelson Community Center, located at 301 Center Street, in Santa Cruz. Obviously, Santa Cruz County groundwater issues will be featured. It’s my bet, however, that interested Monterey County residents, including residents of North Monterey County, where there are severe groundwater problems, will also find this forum of value. Everyone is definitely invited.

Presenting at the forum tomorrow will be Andrew Fisher, a Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of California at Santa Cruz, who has been doing lots of work related to groundwater resources in the Pajaro Valley, and in the Pajaro River watershed. Fisher will focus his remarks on groundwater recharge and ways that it might be enhanced. Also speaking will be Mike Cloud, a hydrogeologist with the Santa Cruz County Environmental Health Department. Cloud oversees the County’s groundwater monitoring program and provides technical and policy analysis on groundwater recharge.

Participating in the Engineers for Water Alternatives group are some impressive individuals, including Bob Burick, who has retired from the Heavy Construction Division at Granite Construction, and James Bentley, the former Superintendent of Water Production for the City of Santa Cruz.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• For more information about Engineers for Water Alternatives contact Peter Haase:
  Telephone: 831-426-9054
  Email: phase@fallcreekengineering.com

Yesterday, I talked about the forum on groundwater storage issues, taking place at the Louden Nelson Community Center tonight. I really do recommend that you think about attending. Check yesterday’s Land Use Report blog for more information.

If you do check out that Land Use Report blog, you might notice a link at the bottom to my personal blog, “Two Worlds.” My daily blog postings attempt to explore what I call the “Two Worlds Hypothesis;” namely, that while we most immediately inhabit a human world, which we create ourselves, we ultimately live in and are dependent upon the World of Nature, which we did not create, and which we cannot reconfigure the way we can reconfigure our own world. We need to be careful not to think we can ignore the laws of Nature. And we need to be careful not to think that we can’t change the laws that govern our own world.

A recent statement by UCSC Professor Brent Haddad, printed in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, illustrates how important it is not to assume that the constraints of Nature aren’t really constraints at all. Speaking about the proposed desalination plant in Santa Cruz, he said:

Desal is technology that is more profound than we think because, in the broadest sense, we are reversing the water cycle that has flowed in one direction since the beginning of Earth.

Something worth thinking about as we start trying to reconfigure the World of Nature.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• “Desal? Or Not?” Two Worlds Blog Entry For September 29, 2012

Tomorrow, the Santa Cruz County Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, or CNPS, is holding a Native Plant Sale, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the UCSC Arboretum. If you are a member of CNPS you get “first dibs,” starting at 10:00 o’clock. If you are not a member of CNPS, you are invited to attend the sale starting at noon. I think that CNPS will let you join at the door, so that’s an option for you non-members who want to be in the first wave of plant buyers.

Lest listeners think that I have forgotten that the Land Use Report is supposed to focus on land use policy, not home improvement projects, I do want to let you know that there is a pretty close connection between good land use and native plants. If we want to preserve and protect native plant communities (and the animal communities that depend on them) our land use policies need to respect native plant habitat. Many of the major land use issues on Fort Ord are directly related to whether or not we are willing to protect native habitat.

In addition, our long-term land use challenges involve getting existing and future development into a better balance with our local water resources. That means we need to reduce the use of water consumptive, non-native species in our residential and commercial landscapes.

Planning ahead for a possible drought, think about attending that Native Plant Sale tomorrow.

More Information:

• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Santa Cruz Chapter of CNPS
• September-October Newsletter With Plant Sale Information