School of Engineering and Computer Science

Activities 2003-2006

In July 2003 several large water contractors and state and federal agencies met in Napa and held negotiations regarding the State’s water projects. Negative reactions from key lawmakers and members of the public who were not involved in the “Napa Agreement” resulted in the start of the Pacific Process. The purpose of the Pacific Process was to broaden and make more public the discourse on the management of the State’s natural resources associated with operation of the State and federal water projects in the Delta. Meetings were held on the Pacific campus over the course of a year. The outcome of these meetings was drafting of language that was incorporated into federal legislation (HR 2828, Water Supply, Reliability and Environmental Improvement Act) reauthorizing California Bay-Delta Program [CALFED].

The Natural Resources Institute, under Dean Gary Miller, helped develop and host, a conference on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Levees at the Pacific campus. The one-day conference was held June 2005; it attracted attendees from throughout the region.

In October 2005, Pacific again served as a forum for open public debate of critical issues when the Natural Resources Institute hosted a one day forum called “Striking a Balance” on campus to discuss restoration of the San Joaquin River, new dam development, levee maintenance, salt intrusion, climate change, exotic species and species preservation, and development in the flood plain. These discussions helped the settlement of long standing litigation amongst environmentalists and water users in the San Joaquin Valley.

Pacific faculty and students have been actively participating in development of a plan to restore the Calaveras River within the Pacific Campus. An engineering surveying study was carried out in 2005 and a report released in early 2006. This project will enhance understanding and respect for the riverine habitat that is a part of the campus and the surrounding community; a small link in the State’s vast web of natural resources and watershed of the San Joaquin River. A grant application for design and construction funding is being finalized.

A second regional conference on preparing a future vision for the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta was held in June 2006 on the Pacific campus. The Natural Resources Institute again helped develop and host the two-day conference, planned in the winter of 2005 and spring of 2006. The conference concluded with workshops conducted by the Center for Collaborative Policy and a group of University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law professors. Conference proceedings has been prepared and released by the Water Education Foundation.