McKenna Friend

Prof. Marx ENG 145

March 5, 2008

Sustaining Brizzolara Creek

“Cal Poly envisions Brizzolara Creek as a natural system, which provides high quality water

for biological, physical, educational and recreational uses on campus as well as for

downstream users in perpetuity.”

-Brizzolara Creek Enhancement Plan Committee Vision Statement

 

I pause at one of the many old California sycamores for a break. This foreground of mottled bark complements the riparian surrounding. I hear the faint trickle of the creek below me. The new apartments shade the hills behind them as the sun sets. There are still bits of litter and debris from the nearby construction but the area looks and feels noticeably fresher than it did just eight months ago during the Week of Welcome, the last time I hiked near Poly Canyon. Young trees, with circles of recently turned soil at their base, line the edges of the creek. I can now see the pebbles beneath the flowing water of Brizzolara instead of that murky brown. The air feels light and moist as it brushes my shoulders instead of having a faint foul odor. The environment is more welcoming—more beautiful.            

Brizzolara Creek was once the Arroyo del Potrero back when California was a Mexican territory. The current name was given for Bartolo Brizzolara, a prominent land owner in San Luis Obispo County during the mid to late 1800’s. Government documents such as U.S.G.S. soil maps had the creek listed as “Brizziolari,” until 2005 when the Department of the Interior Domestic Names Committee voted to have it officially changed. (California Place Names) The creek flows southwesterly down Cuesta Ridge, through the Peterson cattle range and the Cal Poly campus, meeting with Stenner Creek at Stenner Glen. What is commonly known as Poly Canyon is the Brizzolara Creek watershed which is also a part of the upper San Luis Obispo Creek watershed covering approximately 1,880 acres. (Viramontes) Brizzolara Creek is an ephemeral creek, flowing regularly in winter, but only periodically during most summers and is fed by runoff, seeps, and springs. 

In recent years, it has been a challenge for the University and community as a whole to keep this area of the local environment healthy. Because the creek can be divided into three distinct areas based on its surroundings, there are a variety of different issues that the community faces. The three areas are known as the Headwaters Reach, the Urbanized Reach, and the Agricultural Reach and each has its own set of difficulties. (Viramontes) The most downstream section of Brizzolara is the Agricultural Reach. Natural vegetation and crops are found on either side of the creek in this Reach. There is little danger to the creek in this area due to strict irrigation and fertilizing techniques employed by the University and local farmers. The Urbanized Reach is the portion of the creek located within the developed campus and surrounding urban area. Parking lots and classrooms line Brizzolara here which means that human contact is most prevalent in this region. Keeping the negative effects of humans to a minimum has become a goal for clubs on campus, University leaders, and city committees, especially because it is home to many aquatic species, including the threatened steelhead trout. (Sneed) Most of the rehabilitation projects, mentioned later, have occurred in the Urbanized Reach. The Headwaters Reach, located in the hills above the Cal Poly campus, runs through cattle rangeland. An open pit mine for gravel and a decommissioned solid waste disposal site both lie upstream of this Headwaters Reach. Managing the mine and the old landfill in order to protect the creek is priority due to the potential risk of contamination. Obviously, the community of San Luis Obispo would be doing itself a great disservice by not implementing plans to improve Brizzolara, as the creek is an integral part of the landscape.

Fortunately, groups within the community have been pushing to improve Brizzolara’s water quality, create a more viable habitat for aquatic and land creatures, decrease erosion levels on the banks of the creek, and push for the overall beautification in the Poly Canyon Watershed. These efforts have been heavily supported by the University after it was fined $60,000 by water quality officials in 2007, who found the creek polluted with animal waste from campus lagoons. (Mustang Daily) Since then, Cal Poly and the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo have worked to rehabilitate land along Stenner Creek, and their efforts have encouraged other groups to get involved.

The construction of Student Housing North or Poly Canyon Village has greatly affected the San Luis Obispo creek watershed and Brizzolara Creek itself. In an effort to control the amount of negative interaction with the fragile environment and meet LEED standards, the construction company created a plan for workers to follow during the building period. The Clark Construction Group LLC had to comply with an extensive LEED checklist found on the USGBC website. The checklist is divided into categories such as: 1) Sustainable Sites, 2) Water Efficiency, 3) Energy and Atmosphere, 4) Materials and Resources, 5) Indoor Environmental Quality, and 6) Innovation and Design Process. The categories are separated into subcategories of requirements that, if met, assign the project points or credit. The project must reach a certain level of credit in order to receive certification from the LEED Organization. (USGBC) The creation of Poly Canyon Village not only included the building of structures but also the rehabilitation and beautification of surrounding areas. Landscaping Brizzolara Creek was a priority for the University in order to protect it. Landscaping teams first worked to defend the delicate habitat by removing invasive species of flora and fauna on the edges of the creek. Invasive species or non-indigenous species are defined as organisms “that adversely affect the habitats they invade economically, environmentally or ecologically.” (Wikipedia) The landscaping teams also planted approximately 450 trees along the banks of Brizzolara to decrease soil erosion, restore the shaded habitat for aquatic and land-based creatures, and create a more pleasant atmosphere for students and others to enjoy. The first phase of the Poly Canyon Village project will be completed before Fall Quarter 2008. The complex not only accommodates the housing needs of Cal Poly but also the requests for sustainable practices.

Another major project involves reducing erosion on the banks of the creek which was formally published in 2004 by the Coastal Resources Institute. (Erosion & Sediment) The goal of this plan is to improve water quality and aquatic habitats by mitigating sedimentary deposit and erosion problems in the watershed. These goals will be accomplished by fencing in areas of concern and improving the Poly Canyon Road foundation. The plan has been tracked by photographic documentation since 2004 to help with future projects as well.

Another major project, the SLO Land Conservancy Creek Day, has been publicized on campus by the Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP) Club. (Club Cal Poly) The most recent Creek Day, in September of 2007, brought in over 220 off-campus volunteers as well as organized groups within the University and community. This project involves removing debris from areas where local creeks flow in order to reduce contamination and promote a healthy aquatic habitat and environment.

Spring quarter at Cal Poly marks a new course directly involving Brizzolara Creek. This Planning and Urban Ecology Course is a mixed-method monitoring program for the Creek. According to the instructor, Professor Adrienne Greve, “the class is implementing a long-term social and ecological monitoring program so all [participating] students are trained in field methods, collecting data (stream channel cross sections, pebble counts, habitat typing, and social surveys)…analyzing data…and preparing a presentation .” Greve also said that the focus of the course is “social perception and the role of the creek on campus and stream channel morphology.” This course is expected to influence the structure of courses here at Cal Poly. Professor Greve uses the data collected in her class during guest lectures for other departments and is now taking steps to make the course permanent in the City and Regional Planning curriculum. She also plans to oversee a large number of senior or master’s projects on the creek each year. Some final projects from the class of Spring 2007 are available for viewing upon request. The University is an advocate for sustainability and starting on our own campus is a powerful statement. No longer will the idea of sustainability be abstract. In this “experimental course,” students will be able to tackle the idea in a hands-on environment. (Greve)

The previously stated projects all focus on one aspect of rehabilitation. The work done by the Brizzolara Creek Enhancement Plan Committee (BCEPC), however, is much broader in comparison. The Brizzolara Creek Enhancement Plan Committee has been influential in promoting various multifaceted plans to improve the Creek and its surroundings. The committee pushes for three main objectives in their plans: “1) clear running water year round supporting abundant natural aquatic and riparian systems, 2) students and faculty studying and conducting research to further their educational goals within the context of a polytechnic educational institution, and 3) the creek system providing a pleasing and appreciated visual landscape within its campus environment.” (BCEPC) According to one committee member, Kim Busby, a Water Quality Management Specialist at the University, the committee has not met since the start of construction on the previously mentioned Poly Canyon Village project. The committee also has no future project plans for the Brizzolara Creek Corridor as of now. (Busby) This shows that much progress has been made in the Urban Reach of the creek. Major rehabilitation projects have been taking place for the past decade and the hard work of the committee, University, and community at large is paying off.

Overall, enhancing Brizzolara Creek has become a major focus of the students and staff at Cal Poly and the surrounding community. The programs in operation relate directly to the idea of sustainability. “A side discourse relates the term sustainability to longevity of natural ecosystems and reserves.” (Wikipedia) Without our contributions now, future generations of humans or other creatures that thrive in Brizzolara’s Riparian habitat would suffer.

Bibliography

History & Specifics

Government Document <http://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/dockets/docket387.pdf>

Viramontes, Jessica. Brizzolara Creek. < http://polyland.calpoly.edu/overview/Archives/viramontes.pdf>

California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names By Erwin Gustav Gudde http://books.google.com/books?id=Kqwt5RlMVBoC&pg=PA47&lpg=PA47&dq=brizzolara+creek&source=web&ots=3smeei9-kR&sig=zhirS9CSm8NlXeZZLSrhGCEA0SA#PPA53,M1

Wikipedia: Sustainability. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability>

Programs

Invasive Species. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 12 March 2008. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_species>

U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED Certification. 12 March 2008. <http://www.usgbc.org/Docs/LEEDdocs/LEED_RS_v2-1.pdf>

Greve, Adrienne. City and Regional Planning Department. CPSU. Interview: M. Friend 13 March 2008.

Erosion & Sediment Control Plan. <http://www.calpoly.edu/~cri/docs/Task5DesignPlan.pdf>

Habitat Management Plan. Species Enrichment.

< http://polyland.calpoly.edu/overview/Archives/lowerbrizplan.pdf>

San Luis Obispo County. SLO Creek Day. <http://www.special-places.org/ecm/News_and_Events/CreekDay/Event_Details/San_Luis_Obispo.html>

AEP Club Cal Poly. <http://aepclub.googlepages.com/photos>

California Environmental Protection Agency. <http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/nps/current319h_rb3.html>

Mustang Daily. Poly Plans to Clean Up. 03 March 2007.

< http://www.mustangdaily.net/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=9393e1a2-e730-4504-8839-e02bf60d8af5&page=1>

Sneed, David. RedOrbit. Cal Poly to Pay for Creek Cleanup. March 2007. <http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/833324/cal_poly_to_pay_for_creek_cleanup/index.html>

 

BCEP Committee

Busby, Kim. Water Quality Management Specialist. Environmental Health and Safety. CPSU(SLO). Interview: M. Friend. 13 March 2008.

BCEPC. <http://cla.calpoly.edu/~SMARX/courses/134/brizplan1-28.pdf>

 

Proposals Submitted 2001. <http://www.calpoly.edu/~grants/reports/FY01proposals.pdf>