San Luis Obispo Community Impact Group

Projects:

Clean Air for the Nipomo Mesa

A recent study has come out, showing that the air in the Nipomo Mesa region is not clean, because of Particulate Matter. This Particulate Matter comes from the crustal materials that blow into the Mesa on windy days. According to the study, these crustal materials are shaken loose by hydrostatic pressure applied to the surface of the dunes that is known to cause de-vegetation, destabalization of dune structure, and destruction of the natural crust on the dune surface.

There are 3 stages of a process that needs to be implemented in order to address this air quality issue in the Nipomo Mesa Region. Those three stages are:

  1. Raising awareness of the problem
    2. We plan to prepare informational brochures containing text and visual representations which contain information about Particulate Matter's impact upon the local air quality, the relation between off-road vehicles and damage to the crust of the dunes, and destruction of the sensitive cryptobiotic life forms that inhabit the crust, secreting sticky material that binds the dust particles together, and prevents the winds from blowing the crustal materials into our residential community. We also plan to maintain this website, and to distribute the informational brochures to people in the affected areas by going door to door. We plan to hold periodic meetings and events, and organize forums where this problem can be discussed. We plan to put public service announcements on the radio and television to increase awareness of this problem.

    If you are interested in helping to prepare these brochures and PSAs, or are a website designer, please email sloimpact@gmail.com.
    If you would like to donate to our public awareness campaign, please click here

  2. Minimizing factors accounting for erosion of Dunes
    3. Suggested ways to accomplish this have been through
    1. Lobbying the agencies with discretionary authority, such as the San Luis Obispo Board of Supervisors, to deny vehicles access to the dunes,
    2. Litigating for an injunction from a judge ordering the dunes to be closed, or
    3. Passing the appropriate legislation to ban vehicles on the dunes.
    If you are a person from the legal field with time to donate to our litigation team, please email sloimpact@gmail.com.
    If you would like to donate to our legal fund, please click here.
  3. Restoring the dune ecosystem
    4. It is important to understand that removing the vehicles from the dunes, in itself, will not immediately restore the quality of the air in the Nipomo Mesa Region. This is because the damage to the crustal soil has already been done, and it will take years for the ecosystem to recover. We can take action to restore the dune ecosystem. At our meetings it has been suggested that we can coordinate with members of the academic community in locations such as Cal Poly and UC Davis, in order to create internships for undergraduate and graduate students who wish to participate in supervised projects associated with restoration of the Dune Ecosystem.

    If you are someone who has scientific literacy concerning cyanobacterial innoculation to stimulate biological soil crust formation in dune ecosystems, or has experience writing research grants, or is aware of any federal, state, or non-governmental agencies or individuals who might be able to help with the restoration of the dune ecosystem, please email sloimpact@gmail.com.
    If you would like to donate to the Restoration fund, please click here

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