Subscribe

CityStories / City Profiles / Small Cities / Merced, California

Population: 63,893


 

Photo Credit: Rajesh Vijayarajan/Flickr


Merced, California

Map showing this city's location

Merced contracted ECO:LOGIC Engineering for facility design and permitting of its upgraded wastewater treatment plant, which includes a new filtration technology and expanded treatment for sludge, which will be able to be reused for agricultural purposes.

To ensure that all government members in California's San Joaquin Valley work together to promote better air quality in the region, a Memorandum of Understanding exists between the eight transportation agencies in the area, including the Merced County Association of Governments. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District works with the agencies on improving air quality by developing and implementing Transportation Control Measures. In July 2008, the University of California, Merced, was host to the California Emerging Clean Air Technology Forum, a collaborative effort between the EPA, the San Joaquin Valley Air District and others.

The University of California, Merced, a new research institution that opened in 2005, is constructing all buildings to be at least LEED-silver certified and to use half the energy of comparable buildings in California.

Lighter colored strata revealed by the decline in Lake Mead's water levels. For more on Las Vegas, read the city profile. Credit: Loop_oh/FlickrFor recent visitors to...
Flooding and sewer overflow in West Haven, Connecticut. Credit: Christopher ZurcherThe impervious paving with which we are so familiar—the asphalt and concrete that...
See All Articles
Playbook for Green Buildings and Neighborhoods

The Playbook website provides local governments with guidance and resources to rapidly advance green buildings, neighborhoods and infrastructure. Strategic action in these sectors promotes economic development, builds healthier communities, strengthens energy independence, and supports climate protection.

Green Building: LEED for Neighborhood Development

The LEED for Neighborhood Development Rating System integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism and green building into the first national system for neighborhood design. LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a development's location and design meet accepted high levels of environmentally responsible, sustainable development. Learn more.

Porous Paving

The EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System site provides information about applicability, siting and design criteria.

Georgia's Department of Community Affairs has a page on best practices for porous paving.
Portland, Oregon's Bureau of Environmental Service pervious paving projects page.
City of Chicago's permeable paving site with many local examples.
San Francisco Parks Trust permeable landscape page.

Environmental Health Perspectives provides a good overview in "Paving Paradise: The Peril of Impermeable Surfaces."

NRDC's report Stormwater Strategies: Community Responses to Runoff Pollution considers a variety of responses implemented across the country.

Water Conservation

US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation: with a mission to "manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public" the bureau provides information about water levels in reservoirs throughout the West, updates on dams, powerplants and related projects and a library of water reclamation materials.

Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART program: Information on WaterSMART grants for water and energy conservation projects, basin studies with integrated management plans and water supply reviews and details on the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives in the Southwest.

In Hot Water: Water Management Strategies to Weather the Effects of Global Warming (NRDC report)

Water Efficiency Saves Energy (NRDC report)

Las Vegas Water District conservation pages

Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNVA) conservation and rebates

SNVA landscaping information

 

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
All comments must be approved prior to publishing, but your post will be reviewed within 24 hours.
Follow Smarter Cities on Twitter

Ask Questions

City Search

What's Smart Near You?

Become an OnEarth Citizen Reporter