This summer I had the opportunity to work on California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) documents, conduct noise measurements, and visit project sites for an environmental consulting firm in Oakland, California. Some of the various projects I was able to work on were hotel developments, condos, sports facilities, demolitions, and more.
Environmental consulting involves many different disciplines. I had the privilege to work in the planning department, but the firm I worked for also had biologists, experts in sustainability, GIS, and many more.
I was new to the world of environmental consulting and enjoyed the interdisciplinary nature that most projects entailed as well as the extensive research each project required. Since I was new to the Bay Area, working on projects in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Oakland, and San Jose was a good way for me to learn the area rather quickly. A particularly intriguing project was a planned demolition of a Cold War era missile site in the Oakland hills, near Lake Chabot.
In regard to water sustainability, CEQA requires a rather extensive review process of planned developments and their potential effect on the water supply and potential runoff. The CEQA section is officially titled “Hydrology and Water Quality.” This section is primarily concerned with whether a project will deplete existing groundwater supply, alter the drainage pattern of the area, contribute to runoff, degrade water quality, or be placed in a 100 year floodplain.