dan

Do the Minimum

It was 1991, maybe early 1992. I left my office at the sewage treatment plant and drove down to City Hall.

In the City Manager’s office, I had 10 minutes of his time to explain the new stormwater regulations. Yes, under the Clean Water Act, permits would now cover rainwater runoff from roofs, streets, and parking lots. Yes, the City had to comply. Specifically, we had to have a program to stop illicit connections and dumping, to educate the public, and to inspect activities at local businesses and construction sites.

Yes, there were fines and possible third-party lawsuits if we didn’t comply.

And no, this wasn’t going to go away.

The City Manager looked at me through heavy-lidded eyes.

“Do the minimum,” he said. My 10 minutes were up.

20 years later, the stormwater business has matured. Sort of.

On the one hand, we’ve got a whole community of people who, like me, have built their careers around stormwater pollution prevention.

On the other hand, yesterday some of the best and most experienced members of that community gave me a taste “do the minimum” all over again.

More later.

January 19, 2012 by Stormwater Pollution Prevention 0

Whimsy

Pic of my new bicycleOne the best things about my new purchase is going to be figuring out why I bought it.

It’s a very impractical machine. To begin with, it has only one gear (flip-flop fixie/freewheel, for those in the know). The parts are not particularly high-quality. This is a “large” frame from Republic Bicycles, but it feels undersized. And now that I’ve made the Craigslist deal, in cash, and after riding away on the bike, I see it’s got a bad scuff on one side of the bright-blue seat (from being dropped, no doubt), and there’s something klunky going on with bottom bracket.

On the bright side, I enjoyed riding it the 8 blocks to work. And I’ve already received a half-dozen compliments on it.

Style = fun. I guess that’s why.

January 11, 2012 by Cycling 0

What I’m Working On

  • Writing and updating the Contra Costa Clean Water Program Stormwater C.3 Guidebook, 6th Edition. The 6th Edition includes implementation of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board’s Municipal Regional Permit requirements to infiltrate, evapotranspirate or harvest/reuse runoff from new development sites.
  • Stormwater Control Plan Template to go with the Guidebook
  • Participation with the San Francisco Estuary Project, San Francisco Estuary Institute, and others in an application for a Proposition 84 Low Impact Development Planning and Monitoring Grant.
  • Preparing an additional Proposition 84 Planning and Monitoring Grant application for the Contra Costa Clean Water Program.
  • Exploring a possible Proposition 84 Implementation Grant application for Low Impact Development projects on publicly owned facilities in Contra Costa County.
  • Planning for workshops for municipal construction inspectors.
January 6, 2012 by Work Status 0

Home for Lunch

My new lunchtime habit is to hop on my bike and ride the 8 blocks or so home. There, I can do a little yoga, wash up the breakfast dishes, and still make it back to the office in an hour or so. Or maybe a little more. And OK, I’ve done it twice, but I’d like it to become a habit.

January 4, 2012 by Personal Status 0

Rosy Outlook for 2012

Dan_and_Zoe_Exchange_Sunglasses

Returning from New Years Day on the beach at the mouth of the Gualala R.

2011 was a hella good year, when I stop to think about it. I did a lot of things right and a few things wrong, and by that accounting I’m happy to be in the black.

Most of the wrong things had to do with not taking care of myself physically. I didn’t do enough yoga, and I’m noticably stiffer than I was a year ago. I also struggled with my cycling fitness&#8212I forced myself to train while being too short on sleep and often with a nagging cold. In December I fell off a ladder at home, bruising my ribs and aggravating a rotator cuff already overstretched from carrying around the toddler.

Most of the right things had to do with connecting, and reconnecting, with people. Many of my favorite memories of the year are of when I squeezed in time to spend with close friends&#8212a couple hours for a  beer, or a whole day for cycling or skiing, or a few days for backpacking. Throughout the year I corresponded or got together with people I hadn’t seen in 10 or 25 or even 40 years, and I feel much the richer for each encounter.

At home, it’s been damned difficult at times. Right now it’s good. Zoe, now two-and-a-half, is growing and thriving and becoming more Zoe-like each day, which is what counts most.

At work, I continue to be blessed with work that inspires me. As the year turns, I’ve got projects at various stages of development&#8212some to wrap up, some to nurture into full flower, others just trying to get off the ground.

A lot of joy, and enough difficulty to keep it interesting. Who could ask for more?

January 2, 2012 by Personal Status 0

New Beginnings

America, the land of second chances.

About four years ago, the web service Blogger (owned by Google) stopped supporting blogs hosted anywhere except on their own site.

Around the same time, I got divorced and —for some time during and after —lost my blogging voice. I’d start to write, and the words on the screen in front of me would just glare back accusingly.

I made a couple of attempts to revamp the site, but I was intimidated by the work required to find, install, and configure new blogging software. Besides, there’s a lot of new features and functionality that have been developed since I taught myself basic HTML.

Now, with some help, I’m back up and running. And looking forward to having some things to say in 2012.

December 29, 2011 by This Blog 0

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