Let’s manage our water commons!
Smart Water Decisions
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Applications

These applications provide a regional city planner view of where water recharge could be best incentivized (Recharge Index), and then a landscape designer perspective of which practices could provide the most benefit given the context of the given parcel (Permeable Practices Index).

Recharge Index

Recharge Index

Recharge Index

Evaluate parcels within the watershed based on impervious surface, soil properties, and aquifer location. Status: Beta.

Permeable Practices Index

Permeable Practices Index

Permeable Practices Index

Based on the context of a given parcel from the Recharge Index, various permeable practices are suggested. Status: Pre-alpha.

Permeable Practices

Strategic practices to increase value to the Water Commons.

Wetland Basin

Bioretention

Maintenance Practice

Biofilter

Infiltration Basin

Low Impact Design

Our team

The Water Commons Alliance is a small multi-disciplinary group of designers and scientists interested in developing data-driven tools for enhancing California’s water supply.

Matt Gries (AIA)

Matt Gries (AIA)

Architect

Lives in Santa Barbara, CA

Matt Gries AIA is a licensed Architect (DesignARC), member of the Community Environmental Council Partnership Council, and co-founder of the Water Commons Alliance. For over 15 years, Matt has focused on resource, climatology and sustainability issues that are inherently tied to the design process, with a particular passion for solving problems related to water management. Matt is now working with the AIA Santa Barbara in order to promote a bottom-up approach to architecture and landscape design that is more deeply integrated with Santa Barbara’s complex water scenario.

Meg West (LEED AP)

Meg West (LEED AP)

Landscape Designer

Lives in Ashland, OR

Meg West is the principal Landscape Architect at Meg West Design. She was inspired to run for a seat on the Goleta Water District Board of Directors in 2014 after serving on the Goleta Planning Commission for four years. Steering the Goleta Water District towards more sustainable long-term water supply during this drought has deepened her understanding of water issues dramatically. She is now the Vice President of the Board and is active in local and statewide efforts to promote and implement integrated solutions for water supply, soil health, pollution, and climate.

Ben Best (PhD)

Ben Best (PhD)

Environmental Data Scientist

Lives in Santa Barbara, CA

Ben Best is an environmental data scientist with a background in marine spatial ecology. Through his newly formed EcoQuants consultancy, he is working with NASA, NOAA, National Renewable Lab and the National Park Service. He has taught a variety of graduate courses at UC Santa Barbara: GIS, Advanced GIS, Environmental Informatics, Landscape Ecology and Conservation Planning. He was the senior analyst for the Ocean Health Index and completed a PhD at Duke University in the Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab.

Dustin Pearce (MESM)

Dustin Pearce (MESM)

GIS Analyst

Lives in Santa Barbara, CA

Dustin Pearce joined the Conservation Biology Institute in December of 2015. His background in geospatial sciences has focused on the interplay of working agricultural lands, natural lands, and renewable energy development in California. Growing up in the San Joaquin Valley, his connection with agricultural and working lands initiated his interest in biology. Dustin holds a M.E.S.M. in Economics and Politics of the Environment from the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, and a B.S. in Conservation Biology from Arizona State University. His work with the Conservation Biology Institute is focused on stakeholder engagement and smart planning for renewable energy development and environmental protection throughout California.

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