Hydro-Carving Approach a Success at Balm-Boyette Stallion Creek Restoration
This restoration project seemed fairly straightforward at first blush: grade the pits, plant native species, and restore the freshwater wetland and upland communities back to the way they were before the area was mined. Then Tom reviewed a historic aerial of the site. “There was a creek there that was breached by the mining activities, which resulted in the creek being cut off from the natural flow patterns in the region,” Tom Ries explains. “As soon as I saw that, I thought, ‘well, we have to restore that creek.’”
February 13, 2020
ESA Biologist Erika Walther Receives Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse Permits One of the smallest, and arguably cutest, San Francisco Bay endemic species is the salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris). These mice are listed as a federal- and state-endangered species due to habitat loss, but ESA’s biologists are hard at work to restore and preserve these areas. Enter Erika Walther. Read More »
February 4, 2020
Take a Deep Dive into the Sustainable Water Management Profile The Sustainable Water Management (SWM) Profile, has emerged following several years of work by the Water Foundation. ESA Vice President Betty Andrews, PE, is a member of the SWM Team, a collaborative effort to develop and pilot test the framework, and she provides further insight into this forward-thinking tool. Read More »
January 30, 2020
Hydro-Carving Approach a Success at Balm-Boyette Stallion Creek Restoration This restoration project seemed fairly straightforward at first blush: grade the pits, plant native species, and restore the freshwater wetland and upland communities back to the way they were before the area was mined. Then Tom reviewed a historic aerial of the site. “There was a creek there that was breached by the mining activities, which resulted in the creek being cut off from the natural flow patterns in the region,” Tom Ries explains. “As soon as I saw that, I thought, ‘well, we have to restore that creek.’” Read More »
January 9, 2020
Proposed Changes to NEPA Requirements For the first time in 40 years, the federal government—via the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)—is proposing revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Read More »
December 17, 2019
Press Release: Environmental Science Associates Opens San Jose Office “For all of us, opening a new office during our 50th anniversary year is especially exciting—it’s a celebration of the firm’s important relationships with our South Bay clients, a continuation of our long-standing tradition of supporting the development of healthy, livable communities, and, of course, it supports our mission of providing value for our employee-owners,” said ESA President and CEO Leslie Moulton-Post. Read More »
December 10, 2019
Co-Equal Benefits of Habitat Protection and Water Supply Security The City of Buenaventura (commonly known as Ventura) relies completely on local water supplies and does not receive any imported water. When these supplies are cut back during droughts, it’s a dire situation. During the recent multi-year drought, each of the local supplies—groundwater, the Ventura River, and Lake Casitas—experienced cutbacks that threatened the need for substantial rationing in the city. It became evident that a new reliable, locally controlled water source was required to meet existing and future demands Read More »
December 10, 2019
Charting the Course for Water: Washington’s Hirst Decision Washington state may not be the first place one thinks of when considering water scarcity, but recent court decisions and legislation have put the issue front and center in the Evergreen State, particularly in Puget Sound watersheds. Read More »
December 10, 2019
SWM Upstream: How Sustainable Water Management Is Changing the Way We Think About Water No one can ignore the effects of climate change in California. From severe drought and widespread flooding, to historic and devastating wildfires, this new reality makes coordinated, inclusive water management more of a necessity than ever. Read More »
December 4, 2019
ESA Connects:
Integrated Water Resource Management The latest issue of ESA Connects is out, and it is overflowing with water news: an overview of the California Water Plan Update 2018 and Sustainable Water Management, a look at the City of Ventura’s new VenturaWaterPure project, the latest outcomes of Washington State’s Hirst Decision, and much more. Read More »
November 25, 2019
CEQA Water Supply Assessment Changes: Show Me the Water With the most recent CEQA updates that went into effect in 2019―the most comprehensive overhaul of the CEQA Guidelines in decades―water supply resiliency formally entered the Utilities section of CEQA Appendix G thresholds of significance for land use change/development projects. See what this means for your project. Read More »
November 4, 2019
Inside Look: ESA’s Fisheries Team Matthew Silva is a part of our Northern California Fisheries team consisting of 20 fisheries biologists. He oversees the implementation of large-scale fisheries research efforts as a field lead and project manager. We interviewed Matt to get an inside look on our fisheries team; here’s what we found out. Read More »
October 8, 2019
ESA Welcomes Mary Laux as Principal Planner in Northern California We are glad to welcome Mary Laux back to our Northern California team. Laux began her consulting career at ESA in 2001 with the airports group, and has spent the last 16 years with AECOM as an Associate Principal/Planner managing large, multidisciplinary projects. Read More »
October 8, 2019
Acoustic and Air Quality Specialist Dr. Tony Chung Joins Southern California Team Having completed thousands of noise and air quality studies, and as a certified member of the Institute of Noise Control Engineering since 1991, Dr. Chung is recognized as one of the premier noise experts in the nation. He has also been involved in more than 100 greenhouse gas and climate change impact analyses. Read More »
September 25, 2019
California Supreme Court Rejects Challenges to EIR for Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project The California Supreme Court, in a late-August decision, denied challenges to the sufficiency of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR)/Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prepared for California American Water Company’s (CalAm) long-awaited desalination plant, the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project (MPWSP). Read More »
September 24, 2019
Research Shows Nutrient Diet Improves Water Quality, Fishery Habitat Across the globe, coastal zone management efforts have concluded that restoring fish populations often requires acting on land-based human activities. With a few notable exceptions, most commercially and recreationally important species of fish, crabs, and shrimp spend at least a portion of their lives in estuarine locations, where waters from the open ocean mix with runoff from land. Read More »
September 22, 2019
September 22-26 | National Center for Sustainable Transportation Sacramento, CA Read More »
September 5, 2019
ESA Adds Beverly Choi as Northern California Community Planning Program Manager Recognized as one of the California Top 20 Under 40 Professionals by Engineering News Record in 2016, Choi most recently worked for AECOM where she held a variety of leadership roles—from Studio Leader to Senior Project Manager—and worked on a number of high-profile local and international, multi-disciplinary projects. Read More »
September 4, 2019
Informing Sea Level Rise Response in Tampa Bay Formed in Spring 2014, the Climate Science Advisory Panel (CSAP) is an ad hoc network of recognized scientists and resource managers working in the Tampa Bay region (Figure 1). The group’s goal is to collaboratively develop science-based recommendations for local governments and regional agencies as they respond to climate change and associated sea-level rise (SLR). ESA principal scientists Dave Tomasko and Doug Robison were appointed to the CSAP and have been actively engaged in the work of the panel since its inception. Read More »
September 4, 2019
Balancing Interests and Collaborating for Progress: Integrated Floodplain Management To protect and restore that habitat, it’s necessary to balance a complex web of interests, including flood risk reduction, ecosystem recovery, and agricultural viability. Read More »
September 4, 2019
Environmental DNA in a Regulatory and Operational Landscape Environmental DNA (eDNA) is DNA collected from the environment—water, soil, and air—rather than directly from an organism. All organisms add DNA to their environment by excreting waste, shedding, decomposing, etc. Since short stretches of DNA contain information that identifies species and populations, genetic testing of environmental samples can reveal the presence of animals and plants nearby. Read More »
September 4, 2019
Finding Common Ground to Advance Restoration in California’s Delta and Beyond An interview with Bill Harrell, California Department of Water Resources (DWR), and Erika Lovejoy, Sustainable Conservation, on accelerating restoration projects in California. Read More »
September 4, 2019
ESA Connects:
Accelerating Restoration The latest issue of ESA Connects is out, and it is packed with restoration stories from coast-to-coast, including an exclusive interview with Bill Harrell, California Department of Water Resources (DWR), and Erika Lovejoy, Sustainable Conservation, on accelerating restoration projects in California. Read More »
August 16, 2019
ESA’s Autumn Ward Joins Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society Board of Directors Senior Airport Planner, Autumn Ward, based out of ESA’s Tampa office was inducted to the Board of Directors for the Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society (TJDAS). Read More »
July 30, 2019
October 30 – November 1 | Washington State Lake Protection Association Lake Chelan, WA Read More »
July 15, 2019
Celebrating 50 Years of Groundbreaking Science, Planning & Design ESA marked its 50th anniversary on July 3. It will celebrate this summer and fall with open houses for clients, project partners and colleagues across its regional offices. Coinciding with the half-century milestone, the firm will also inaugurate a scholarship fund and is unveiling a new website featuring in-depth industry insights and project information. Read More »
