David Barr

About David

Why did you choose this program?

I have loved the outdoors, hiking, camping, and backpacking since I was a kid, and the time spent doing these activities instilled in me a great interest in ecology and the environment. I selected Environmental Resources Engineering as a major with an emphasis in water quality because it sounded interesting and also seemed likely to provide good job opportunities.

I went to high school in Eureka, so Humboldt State University was a natural choice for me. I have loved the outdoors, hiking, camping, and backpacking since I was a kid, and the time spent doing these activities instilled in me a great interest in ecology and the environment. I selected Environmental Resources Engineering as a major with an emphasis in water quality because it sounded interesting and also seemed likely to provide good job opportunities.

After graduating, a fellow ERE graduate and I went to Europe and spent the summer traveling with backpacks and rail passes. We had a great time, and I value that experience very highly. Once back in California, I started looking for a job and received an offer from the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Santa Ana River Region in Riverside. I accepted the offer without knowing much about Riverside, and figured I could work there for a year or so, and then transfer to another region somewhere in Northern California. However, I liked Riverside’s easy access to the ocean, mountains, and deserts of Southern California, and I ended up spending four years there.

I worked initially in the surface water program, which included municipal wastewater and industrial wastewater treatment plants. One of my first tasks was writing revised National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits for municipal wastewater treatment plants, which required them to upgrade from secondary to tertiary treatment. This didn’t make me very popular with the Southern California cities which now needed to upgrade their wastewater treatment facilities. The Santa Ana River had historically been dry in much of the Riverside/San Bernardino Valley area, and there was a large increase in the amount of treated wastewater being discharged to the river and its tributaries. This meant the river was flowing year round as an effluent- dominated stream, wherein 90% of the flow was treated wastewater. Families were visiting the river to play in the water, and it needed to be made suitable for direct contact recreation. There were also issues of nitrates, metals, and other pollutants, as well as their effect on the aquatic environment. In addition to this, I dealt with dairies, landfills, large septic systems, and erosion control issues at mountain ski resorts while also selecting sites for pollutant analysis of fish and shellfish for the Regional Monitoring Program.

While Southern California was nice, I missed the wetter climate of northern California, and I wanted to be able to visit my family in Eureka more easily. So, I transferred to the San Francisco Bay Regional Board office in Oakland, which has turned out to be a pleasant place to live. The East Bay Regional Park system includes large wildland parks, and the nearest natural redwood forest is only about 3 miles from my house.

I am currently working in the groundwater cleanup program, where we frequently disagree with a discharger’s interpretation of subsurface conditions, as well as the amount of cleanup needed. As a result, we must be able to defend our requirements for the sometimes extensive cleanup of groundwater.

One great thing about the ERE degree is that it provides you with the skills and opportunity to work on whatever “side” of an issue you choose. You might work for a company, agency, or utility that discharges to the environment; or for a regulatory agency, such as the Regional Water Board or Department of Toxic Substances Control, that regulates the discharge; or for a consulting firm doing an investigation and cleanup associated with the discharge.

I have found that working at the Regional Water Board provides me with a good balance between work and my personal life. The Boards have responsibility for many different water quality issues, and there are opportunities to get experience in different areas. If you are motivated to take on projects beyond your normal workload, you can develop expertise in something you find interesting and important, and perhaps develop policy on how to deal with that issue.