Cost Modeling of Provision C.3 Green Stormwater Infrastructure Requirements for Residential Development in Concord, California

Authors

James H. Mizutani, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Report

Date of this Version

6-2024

Citation

A professional project for dual degrees:

Master of Community and Regional Planning

Master of Science in Civil Engineering, Water Resources Engineering Specialization

University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Review Committee:

Co-Chair: Yunwoo Nam, Professor Community and Regional Planning

Co-Chair: Xu Li, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Jaime Lopez, Assistant Professor, Community and Regional Planning

Tirthankar Roy, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

June 2024

Comments

Copyright 2024, James Henry Mizutani. Used by permission

Abstract

To assist the city of Concord in achieving its housing goals as presented in its general plan, while still meeting the stormwater discharge requirements laid out in the city’s municipal discharge permit, I worked with local developers and consultants to create a spreadsheet modeling tool that allows housing developers to estimate the total cost of green stormwater infrastructure needed to comply with local regulations.

This report contains a summary of the conditions leading to the necessity of this tool, the steps the tool takes that go beyond existing models, a description of how the model operates, instructions on how to use the model, and a comparison of the Concord-based model with a widely available national estimation tool.

Values calculated by the Conrod-based tool are significantly higher than that of the national model, highlighting the unique economic circumstances of California in general, and the Bay Area in specific. The result of this project is a method that produces fast and simple estimates that reflect the development climate in Concord and the surrounding area, which will aid developers in deciding what projects are worth building.