When Mike McGill was elected to the Central San Board in 2006, Central San was discharging approximately 50 to 200 million gallons of treated wastewater into the Bay every day, which water could have been recycled and reused. As a Water Engineer, Mike thought this resource was precious and should not be wasted. However, sanitary districts had a long-standing approach of "treat and discharge." In his early years on the board, Mike McGill tried to get people interested in expanding the use of recycled water, but he could not generate enthusiasm for the effort. Board position was that water supply was the responsibility of the water districts, not the sanitary districts. Public perception was that recycled water was not needed and was "poop water" unsafe for use.

 

Recycled water proponents at Central San could not figure out how to get public acceptance for recycled water until Mike McGill stumbled onto an idea for "The Little Farm That Could." In 2010, Mike met an activist who proposed that her team use some of Central San's recycled water and empty buffer land to grow fresh produce for schools and the Food Bank. This group also proposed that the urban farm could be used to teach science, technology, math, engineering and environmental protection to youth. This project fit Central San's mission, given that Central San's stated mission was Environmental Protection and Public Health. The project attacked nutritional poverty (nearly 25% of the children in the county suffer from poor nutrition) and would use a wasted resource (recycled water) and teach the community about environmental protection.

 

This team of activists met with and lobbied the Central San Board, along with legislators, educators, public health officials, community college board members, scientists, food activists and private citizens. Thousands signed petitions and wrote letters to ask Central San to support this proposed urban farm. In 2012, the team founded a non-profit AgLantis (501c-3) and in 2014 a 10-year lease was signed for Central San to provide the community a 14.8 acre urban farm known as The CoCo San Sustainable Farm.

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The farm garnered huge public support and much press attention because it was believed to be the first of it's kind in the country -- a sanitary district donating it's water and buffer land to feed, educate, and protect the environment. A local greenhouse business AgraTech 

donated a very large commercial greenhouse (over 6000 square feet). Although the original goals of the project were Food Equity, Environmental Protection, and Education, those working on Economic Development for Contra Costa County soon saw the potential the farm had to foster the local economy. Contra Costa County Supervisors Federal Glover and Karen Mitchoff gave AgLantis a $50,000 contract toward building the greenhouse so that hydroponic growing could be demonstrated and indoor agriculture could be fostered, particularly in East Contra Costa and along the Northern Waterfront. Adding the greenhouse to the farm made the entire project much more complex because it was now a land development project.

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Central San wanted to obtain the Land Use Permit, because it was their property and spent two and a half years processing the permit. Once the LUP was obtained, there were still major development barriers to overcome. Permits for Title 22 Recycled Water, Fire, Public Works approval, PG&E connection, fencing and more is required prior to building the greenhouse. AgLantis has dramatically increased public awareness of the beneficial uses of recycled water. For more information about the CoCo San Sustainable Farm, read their description below from their website. 

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Meanwhile, AgLantis has been fulfilling its Environmental and Educational missions by demonstrating good stewardship of the land by building the soil organic matter and planting cover crops, both of which sequester carbon in the soil and teaching classes about the environment and how to reverse global warming with carbon sequestration (See www.Drawdown.com).   

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AgLantis has dramatically increased public awareness of the beneficial uses of recycled water with both elected officials and the public. There are still barriers to be overcome, but there is greater acceptance and interest in reusing every drop of our limited fresh water.

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For more information about the CoCo San Sustainable Farm, read their description below from their website (www.Salads4Schools.org).

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CoCo San Sustainable Farm

 

PROBLEM & PROPOSED SOLUTION: FOOD EQUITY and HEALTH
It costs $1 a day to feed a child a salad.  Most schools cannot afford that. The Contra Costa Food Bank cannot get enough fresh salad vegetables because they are highly perishable and unavailable locally.  We will be providing low cost sustainably grown produce to schools, the food bank, and the community.

We will grow produce on 15 acres of public buffer land and in a high-tech Agra Tech solar light greenhouse (144' X 42'), using recycled, agricultural-grade water, which is otherwise discharged into the Bay.  This recycled water is high in nitrogen, providing free fertilizer.  

 

Nearly 1 trillion gallons of reclaimed water are discharged into the greater San Francisco Bay waterways each year. UC Davis estimated the water shortfall in the CA Central Valley to have been 2.1 trillion gallons this past year.  We threw about half that much water away in the Bay Area alone.  This water is high in nitrogen and phosphorus which are bad for the Bay, but great for agriculture, providing free fertilizer.  Recycled water is it perfect for agriculture, certified by the State of CA for agriculture and has been used for organic produce in Monterey for more than a decade.

The Contra Costa Food Bank is a mile from our farm and will pick up the produce and use existing systems to distribute it to schools and clients, providing transportation. CSAs on the farm will provide low cost produce to the community.

Hence, we will be deploying under-utilized resources to nearly eliminate 4 of the major costs of food production: LAND, WATER, FERTILIZER, and TRANSPORTATION. 

HANDS-ON STEM EDUCATION & JOB TRAINING
One of the goals of the farm is to educate.  Every aspect of science touches a farm such as physics, soil science, hydrology, meteorology, and nutrition.  We are working with local schools and community colleges and other groups to provide students and the rest of the community hands-on opportunities to learn science, technology, engineering and math learned in an inquiry based context on the farm. 

 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Classes on the farm provide job skills training that is relevant to local businesses including hands-on STEM, safety, measurement, and the 21st Century Employability Skills needed to succeed in the workplace such as developing: an Analysis/Solution Mindset; Communication Skills; Self-Awareness; Digital Fluency; Collaboration Skills; Adaptability; Empathy; Entrepreneurial Frame of Mind; Social Diversity Awareness and Resilience.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
The environment will also benefit because we will be rebuilding barren soil, plant crops that sequester carbon and clean the air and increase ground water.  We also reduce the major types of carbon pollution associated with food production:  FOSSIL FUEL- BASED FERTILIZER and TRANSPORT.  

 

We have dramatically reduced the carbon footprint of this food by growing and delivering locally with natural fertilizer and other sustainable methods. In particular, we will be using regenerative agricultural methods which will increase organic matter in our soil and increase carbon sequestration in our soil.

SCALABLE
Sanitary districts in San Francisco Bay Area discharge as much as a trillion gallons of water in a year into the Bay waterways.  They also have thousands of acres of buffer land.  Our business model is scalable and once proven, can be replicated with other sanitary districts to utilize these precious resources and greatly reduce nutritional poverty.

 

QUADRUPLE BOTTOM LINE

AgLantis is a California non-profit public benefit corporation, 501c-3.The work we are doing on the CoCo San Sustainable Farm has a quadruple bottom line – Food Equity, Education and Job Training, Environmental Protection and Economic Development.