LA county is building new homes but the infrastructure, and resources that support growth are dwindling. This requires fresh thinking and new approaches if the city and county want to continue our push to continue growing. The majority of the inland and coastal waterways in LA County are alarmingly polluted; our rivers and creeks now serve as concretized flood protection channels rather than vibrant, healthy wetland ecosystems; and our communities are over-reliant on expensive, inefficient water options such as imports, which contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and disrupt local wildlife, for water supplies.
Water pollution and the degradation of our inland and coastal waters are the symptoms of Los Angeles’ water problems; however, they are not the cause. Los Angeles has historically suffered from a profound lack of vision and planning when it comes to its water management, with initiatives largely fragmented, energy and resource-intensive, and disconnected from local communities. As a result, with California’s population growth, changes in climate patterns, and oversubscribed aquifer and river systems, cities like Los Angeles are pressed to find new sources of water. This fractured approach to water management is putting the region’s 10 million residents, our water-dependent economy, and the health of our waterways and watersheds at risk.
Not only is urban and stormwater runoff the leading source of contamination of the region’s inland and coastal waters, but the loss of this water also represents a monumental waste of a potentially invaluable resource. Because of LA’s heavy urbanization and lack of open space, stormwater is not able to provide the critical function of recharging local aquifers. This results in an estimated 100 billion gallons of water annually that could be captured, treated, and stored for future use instead of wasted. The good news is that the best way to capture and reuse this water is by expanding green spaces throughout the region. Such nature-based stormwater solutions will also provide a myriad of other benefits to local communities – particularly underserved communities that are most park-poor – including reduced heat island effect, improved air quality, expanded recreational opportunities, reduced flood risk, enhanced wildlife habitat, and carbon sequestration.
Voters throughout Los Angeles County demonstrated their commitment to addressing urban runoff by passing Measure W (the Safe, Clean Water Program or SCWP), which starting in 2020 will provide approximately $280 million per year for multi-benefit stormwater projects. LA Waterkeeper played a lead role in the OurWaterLA coalition, which was responsible for placing the parcel tax on the November ’18 ballot. LA Waterkeeper’s Executive Director, Bruce Reznik, chairs the SCWP’s Scoring Committee, which is responsible for scoring all projects seeking SCWP funding and sits on the Central Santa Monica Bay Watershed Advisory Steering Committee (WASC), which is ultimately responsible for selecting projects that will receive SCWP funding in our jurisdiction.
Visit OurWaterLA to learn more about the program.
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LAwaterkeepers is currently working with their community partners to improve the program and ensure funding is directed towards nature-based, multi-benefit projects, particularly in disadvantaged communities (DAC). It has to be a community effort to solve this problem.
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