March 2018 - February 2020: Sediment Erosion Control Planning (SECP) Training
Blankinship & Associates is hosting an online training and certification course for Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program Sediment and Erosion Control Planning (SECP) to educate farmers and agricultural landowners in the importance of sediment/erosion control and how to complete and certify their plan.
December 2019: BMP Guide Developed for CGCSA
Blankinship & Associates assisted the California Golf Course Superintendents Association in developing a California-specific BMP guide and template containing 17 chapters that include topics such as water conservation, integrated pest management, pollinator protection, and more.
June-December 2019: CDFA SWEEP Grants
San Joaquin County Farm Bureau members being assisted with SWEEP Grant application completion.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) provides grants to implement irrigation systems that reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) and save water on farms. In 2019, we assisted 3 growers with application document preparation who were successful in obtaining over $290,000 in grant funds.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) provides grants to implement irrigation systems that reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) and save water on farms. In 2019, we assisted 3 growers with application document preparation who were successful in obtaining over $290,000 in grant funds.
June, July, and September 2019: Pesticide User Training
Blankinship & Associates provided City of Concord staff with refresher training on the safe and effective use of pesticides, including topics such as organic herbicides, pesticide laws and regulations, and worker safety.
May 2019: SWRCB Agrochemical Fate and Transport Training
Blankinship & Associates trained Division of Drinking Water staff on the fate and transport of agrochemicals in ground and surface water and their potential effect on drinking water supplies.
March 2019: Equipment Calibration Training
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Weed season is upon us. Don't forget to calibrate your sprayers!
January 2019: California Weed Science Society (CWSS) Conference
Blankinship & Associates presented on herbicide use options at aquatic sites.
November 2018: Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemical (SETAC) North America 39th Annual Meeting
Blankinship & Associates presented at the North America SETAC meeting and manned a booth with their mascot, MiLoA.
November 2018: California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC)
Blankinship & Associates presented at Cal-IPC on the topic "Proposition 65 No Significant Risk Level for Glyphosate: Risk for Different Applicator Scenarios."
September 2018: UC Davis Aquatic Weed School
On September 5th and 6th, 2018, Blankinship & Associates presented "Update on National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Tools for Small Pond Management."
April 2018: Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Workshop
Blankinship & Associates sponsored three customized training workshops for 100 Bay Area municipality workers, focused on effective IPM planning and implementation.
February 2018: Bay Area Flood Control Integrated Pest Management Workshop
In 2018, Blankinship & Associates held a meeting for agencies to discuss various approaches to managing nuisance vegetation in urban creeks and flood control conveyances.
Winter 2017-18: NPDES Stormwater Construction General Permit Compliance
Construction General Permit (CGP) compliance during a golf course renovation.
Winter 2017-18: NPDES Stormwater Industrial General Permit Compliance
Drain inlet protection
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Other types of drain inlet protection
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Industrial General Permit (IGP) compliance drain inlet protection tools at work.
December 2014 - Present: CDFA Statewide Project
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California Department of Food & Agriculture
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Blankinship & Associates' staff have been part of a team that has helped the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) prepare their Final Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) to provide an up-to-date, transparent, and comprehensive evaluation of CDFA’s activities throughout the state of California. Our analysis included one of the largest scale pesticide Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment ever produced. It included eight (8) pesticide programs designed to protect California’s agriculture from damage caused by invasive plant pests. These programs include:
The analysis included:
To manage this colossal project, we constructed two very powerful tools: the CRANK and the DASHBOARD.
- Pierce’s Disease Control Program
- Asian Citrus Psyllid
- Fruit Fly
- Pest/Detection/Emergency Projects – Eradication (PD/EP-E)
- Pest Detection/Emergency Projects – Detection (PD/EP-D)
- Integrated Pest Control
- Light Brown Apple Moth
- European Grapevine Moth
The analysis included:
- TWENTY-NINE (29) Pesticide Active Ingredients
- FIFTY-ONE (51) Pesticide Inert Ingredients (including additives, adjuvants, lures, etc.)
- SIXTY-NINE (69) products (includes pesticide, adjuvant, & trapping products)
- TEN (10) human receptors including occupational, residential, and bystander exposures
- FIFTY-ONE (51) terrestrial and aquatic ecological receptors
- TWO-HUNDRED-THIRTEEN (213) scenarios for the human risk assessment
- ONE-HUNDRED-EIGHTY-SEVEN (187) scenarios for the ecological risk assessment
To manage this colossal project, we constructed two very powerful tools: the CRANK and the DASHBOARD.
The Comprehensive Risk ANalysis Kalculator (CRANK) is a comprehensive integrated Microsoft Excel workbook that combines numerous state and federal agency Excel-based pesticide risk assessment models, in-house developed models, and output from external models together to form a consolidated tool used to estimate pesticide risk. The CRANK allows for rapid evaluation of risk under different scenarios to assess and formulate risk management strategies. Because the volume and detail of data generated by the CRANK is highly detailed, a user-friendly tool was developed to access this data called “The Dashboard.”
The Dashboard Database (DASHBOARD) is a Microsoft Access based database that houses all of the inputs and scenario details required to run the CRANK in addition to all results generated by the CRANK. Additionally, the DASHBOARD was constructed to automate the process of inputting data into the CRANK and extracting the results back into the database itself. Once inside the Dashboard Database, results can be accessed through intuitive, interactive user-interfaces. What would otherwise require parsing through millions of results printed on paper tables stretching for hundreds of miles is now just a few clicks away! Below is an introduction and explanatory video to the DASHBOARD:
The Dashboard Database (DASHBOARD) is a Microsoft Access based database that houses all of the inputs and scenario details required to run the CRANK in addition to all results generated by the CRANK. Additionally, the DASHBOARD was constructed to automate the process of inputting data into the CRANK and extracting the results back into the database itself. Once inside the Dashboard Database, results can be accessed through intuitive, interactive user-interfaces. What would otherwise require parsing through millions of results printed on paper tables stretching for hundreds of miles is now just a few clicks away! Below is an introduction and explanatory video to the DASHBOARD: