By Daniel Seim
Map:
Interactions:
The human-environment interactions taking place at this spot-on campus is the future impact of the dormitory construction project in the future and the pollution this will cause on mason creek and mason pond. This will and has taken place through runoff of soil as well as construction pollution.
Resource Characteristics:
The units in my system include the stream, Mason Pond, the construction site, and the bank of the stream. The critical ecological factor at play here is water quality. Specifically physical and chemical stream and pond characteristics. This could potentially cause high turbidity and low dissolved oxygen levels. In addition to the potential for hazardous chemicals to runoff into these water systems (US EPA, 2020).
Governance/ User Characteristics
There is a lot of governmental and bureaucratic pressure on the human side of this issue. Specifically, from George Mason itself. GMU is the fastest growing university in Virginia, and enrolled 6,864 students in Fall 2021, a very big step up (Cristodero, 2021). This puts the university on track to surpass 50,000 students in the next decade. Being the largest university in Virginia will necessitate large amounts of undergraduate housing. This is where the dormitory construction project comes in. Without these new dorms, GMU cannot continue its growth path like it wants to. This pressure means that new dorms will be built in the coming years.
Social/ Cultural/ Economic/ Political settings or related ecosystems
Cultural factors on this issue include the societal urge of the institution and its members to grow, as we have become known for our rapid growth. This ties in hand in hand with economic development of the institution. As the university grows, the more students they have, the more tuition they receive, and profits from such. A demographic trend of GMU student body growth would be an increased diversity of George Mason. There specific resource policies the university will need to institute for this construction, including water resource management policies. Climate systems play a large role in this development. For example, during particularly rainy seasons, such as spring, will yield far worse runoff of pollution than a drier season. This ties hand in hand with pollution patterns, these patterns are typically synonymous with weather patterns. There are a few flows in and out of the Social Ecological System. These include the construction workers, their impacts on the environment, the stock of the water quality, and the stock of the pollution in the area.
What can we do?
The implications on the environment are that there may be large pollution and water quality impacts on mason stream and mason pond. The impacts on humans are almost strictly positive as it creates living spaces for new students and can foster lifelong relationships, which can be a huge boost to society and mental health. This project is not a bad idea by any means, however certain things should be done to prevent these potential issues. These could include the pollution filter barriers in addition to nets in mason stream that are regularly cleared. This should be bolstered by water quality checks at a minimum of once a week (Construction, 2019).
If relevant
The university is not currently acting on this issue, although I suspect they may have ideas about this issue in the future. No actions have been taken, although some may be in the works.
Bibliography
“Construction Site Water Quality Monitoring.” Frontier Precision, 7 Mar. 2019, https://frontierprecision.com/construction-site-water-quality-monitoring/.
Cristodero, “Mason Posts Strong Enrollment Numbers for Fall 2021.” George Mason University, https://www.gmu.edu/news/2021-09/mason-posts-strong-enrollment-numbers-fall-2021. Accessed 12 Apr. 2022.
US EPA, OW. Urbanization and Stormwater Runoff. 27 Jan. 2020, https://www.epa.gov/sourcewaterprotection/urbanization-and-stormwater-runoff.