Get Your Volunteer on for Clean Water!

Upcoming Events for March 2010:

For more info on these events, including time and location, please visit the embedded links or check out our calender.

>Come join the clean-up of Cienga Elementary School on Saturday, March 6. The event is sponsored by Keep America Beautiful Great American Cleanup, the nation's largest community improvement program. The event is part of the group’s annual clean-up from March 1 through May 31, involving an estimated 3 million volunteers and attendees.

>The Surfrider Foundation and Cabrillo Marine Aquarium are also putting their weight behind two events on Saturday, March 6. Surfrider volunteers will be tackling beach garbage in Venice and folks that volunteer for Cabrillo can weed and learn about native plants at their awesome native garden. There is also a cool TreePeople restoration event on Sunday, March 7 in Agora Hills.

>Later, during the second week of March, TreePeople will be hosting a Park Work Day in Beverly Hills on March 11 (if you can’t make it on the 11, chip in on the 18 or 25) and on Saturday the 13 they’ll be putting their muscle behind a mountain restoration gig in the glorious Topanga and Coldwater Canyons. And if you are up for double duty that weekend, join TreePeople for a project in Calabasas.

>Don’t think you can run a marathon? That’s okay, that doesn’t mean you can’t help out during the LA Marathon’s big day, which will happen on March 21. To be a volunteer attend a meeting on March 19 or 20 to bring your eco-skills to the mix.

>TreePeople will be at it again on March 20 in South L.A. to help an Eagle Scout add some green to the community. Heal the Bay will also be at it on the coast, doing a clean-up with volunteers at Dockweiler Beach.

>The Mayor (and the City) is calling on you to chip in on March 20 as well for a Day of Service. The LA Schools Day of Service is a day for Angelenos throughout the City to unite and share a day filled with service projects throughout local schools that will address school and community issues, as well as highlight the school's and community's assets. So learn a bit more about how you can get your hands dirty to make our city a little bit cleaner.

>March 21 (as noted) is marathon day in the sunny city we call Los Angeles. So if you attended one of those meetings, this will be your chance to put yourself to the test. Runners (and the environment) will thank you.

>Also on Sunday March 21, Heal the Bay will be embarking on work in Malibu Creek State Park as well as Santa Monica Mountains. So if marathons aren’t your thing, head to the hills!

>Brentwood residents will have a chance to plant trees with TreePeople on Saturday, March 27. The event will be part of an effort to plant 1 million trees in L.A. That means they need a lot of good folks on board to help out (hint, hint)!

The Ripples Behind and the Waves Ahead - A Message from the Stormwater Program Manager

It’s hard to believe that I’ll commemorate a decade with the Stormwater Program in 2010. It’s even harder to consider that Los Angeles’ Stormwater Program celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Time sure does fly!

The City’s Program has grown significantly in the past 20 years. In 1990, the original staff of the then-named Stormwater Group was comprised of just two people working to meet early stormwater regulations that were the result of the 1987 amendment to the 1972 Clean Water Act. Since those early days, the division has matured to more than 80 dedicated staff members implementing a comprehensive watershed protection program that includes education, engineering, enforcement, research and development, monitoring, and conducting scientific studies. And, in the process, the program has become one of the national leaders in stormwater management garnering the respect of agencies throughout the country with award winning projects and programs.

Of course, like all programs, we’ve also had our share of challenges, and we are currently facing some daunting issues that will test us for years to come. As our program enters its third decade, we face obstacles that range from multiple and increasingly stricter federal regulations to recent budget deficits that force us to do more and more with fewer resources.

These obstacles, however, are also opportunities for the program to grow and mature. Stricter water quality goals also mean greater impact on the work we do, which in turn speeds up the process to achieving these objectives. This of course, does not come without hard work, but I believe our staff and community partners are up to the challenge.

As we enter this new decade, I’m encouraged by a paradigm shift that I’m seeing and the opportunities afforded by this change. More and more in this era of drought, people are realizing that rainwater is a resource that can be used or infiltrated back into decreasing groundwater supplies, instead of a liability that needs to be diverted and removed as quickly as possible. The overwhelming residential support we’ve enjoyed with our pilot Rainwater Harvesting Program and the recent collaborative work we’ve done with the community to craft a workable yet flexible Low Impact Development (LID) ordinance demonstrates the desire on the part of City residents to do their part in conserving this most precious resource.

In this issue of the LA Stormwater newsletter (sign up here), we’ll take a glance back at the last 20 years and provide a look ahead at the future of the City’s program. You’ll enjoy interviews with a few of the Stormwater Survivors, those dedicated staff members who have been with the City’s Program through most of its history. We’ll also feature an article by guest-writer Mark Gold, President of Heal the Bay, who will provide an environmnetalist's viewpoint. Lastly, we’ll issue a challenge to you – the community – to make a few simple rainwater resolutions as we enter a new decade.

Even after 20 years, the solution to clean water remains the same. It calls for a team effort, with the City and community working together to bring about the change we all want – cleaner creeks, rivers, lakes and beaches for our families and children.

To all, a healthy and prosperous 2010!

Best Regards,





Shahram Kharaghani, Stormwater Program Manager

Click here to view all of the articles in Issue 9 of the LA Stormwater newsletter.

Heal the Bay's Executive Director Looks Back on the Stormwater Program's 20 Years

by Mark Gold

After 20 years, the City of Los Angeles’ stormwater program is at a crossroads.

The program has come a long way since its beginnings in the early nineties as a result of the Hyperion consent decree and new regulations under the federal Clean Water Act and the first countywide stormwater permit. The City has done a superb job on stormwater education for students, businesses and the public. During the early 1990s, we worked closely with the City on our Gutter Patrol program where volunteers helped stencil tens of thousands of catch basins all over the city. Today, the City runs the program and you can’t find a catch basin in the city without a “No Dumping” stencil.

Los Angeles has led the way on clean beaches by installing about a dozen dry weather runoff diversions. I still remember the press event with Mayor Bradley for the first diversion at the Pico-Kenter stormdrain at Santa Monica Beach. Dry weather runoff diversions have transformed numerous “F” beaches on Heal the Bay’s Beach Report Card into “A” beaches during the summer months. Soon, thanks to Proposition O funds for year round dry weather runoff diversions, most LA beaches will soon get “A”s for the entire year. Runoff diversions have protected the public health of millions of swimmers and helped restore the image of beautiful and safe Santa Monica Bay beaches.

Another milestone for the City was the passage of Proposition O. Over 76% of the public voted for the 500 million dollar measure to clean up our rivers, lakes, beaches and bays by reducing stormwater pollution. Proposition O is providing the capital funds needed to divert dry weather runoff, clean up Machado Lake and Echo Park Lake, capture and infiltrate runoff for local water supply in the Valley, and infiltrate stormwater in the Santa Monica Bay watershed to help clean up the Bay.

Although the pace of the projects isn’t as fast as I would have hoped, the vast majority of Proposition O projects are good projects that reduce runoff pollution and provide other benefits such as greening the City, reducing flood risk and augmenting local water supplies. Unfortunately, Proposition O only pays for building the projects themselves. The funds can not be used for operations and maintenance so the new projects are actually adding to the watershed protection programs ongoing budget difficulties.

Recently, the City has changed their approach to stormwater pollution prevention. They’ve always talked a good game on watershed protection, but in the last few years, there has been a transformation that has gone beyond calling the department the Watershed Protection Division. The division developed a Water Quality Compliance Master Plan that takes an engineering approach to linking watershed planning with water quality compliance.

The City is about to pass a far reaching Low Impact Development ordinance that will require new and redevelopment to capture and reuse or infiltrate 100% of the runoff generated from a three quarter inch storm. The ordinance will make developers, business and homeowners partners in efforts to reduce stormwater pollution and augment local water supplies by helping to create a green infrastructure in the City. I hope that the City will move forward with green streets and alleys requirements that will further the move towards Mayor Villaraigosa’s vision of making LA the cleanest, greenest major city in the country.

Finally, the City was an innovator in stormwater program funding. Back in the early 1990s, the City created a Stormwater Pollution Abatement Charge (SPAC) to pay for new programs. Unfortunately, thanks to Proposition 218, the City Council lost the ability to increase SPAC fees without a two thirds vote of the electorate. As a result, the SPAC has not been increased in nearly 20 years. The cost of the City’s stormwater and watershed protection program should be approximately $120 million a year, yet the SPAC generates less than $30 million a year. Even today’s stormwater and watershed protection programs cost the City about $60 million a year, so there the program always has to compete for general funds: an extremely difficult task in a poor economy.

Despite two decades of progress and the vision of Mayor Villaraigosa, the promise of Los Angeles’ efforts to transform into a City with a green infrastructure that protects our fundamental right to clean water is in jeopardy unless we do something to solve the funding crisis. Clean water is a necessity, a legal requirement and a right and is not something to be sacrificed during tough economic times. The challenge is, will we be bold enough to move forward on the promise and vision of a green LA with clean water, or will we maintain the status quo.

Mark Gold is president of Heal the Bay, a Santa Monica-based environmental organization.

Click here to view all of the articles in Issue 9 of the LA Stormwater newsletter.

Why is LA proposing a Low Impact Development ordinance?

The City of Los Angeles is proposing a LID ordinance for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, LID will dramatically improve water quality in our city. By capturing and either infiltrating or using rainwater more effectively, on a larger scale, our oceans will be cleaner. Beach goers will thank us, not to mention marine life!

Secondly, LID may save the City and its taxpayer’s money. LID provides residents with the opportunity to use rainwater for outside irrigation needs, offsetting their need for potable water and conserving water in this time of drought. Additionally, many of L.A.’s storm drains are challenged with the amount of runoff they are forced to deal with during heavy rainfalls. Much of LA’s storm drain system was built in the 1930s and is simply not equipped to handle runoff from dense urban development which leads to flooding and an unnecessary burden on the system (see LA Downtown News’ article on the aging system).

However, if new and re- developments implement LID and control stormwater more efficiently by infiltrating or using the water before it reaches our creeks, rivers and beaches, our storm drain system will be less burdened with large amounts of urban runoff and may not require costly system upgrades.

Lastly, Los Angeles residents and businesses benefit from clean streets. Less flooding means more liveable communities and less trash flowing into our creeks, rivers, lakes and beaches. A reliable and functional storm drain system means safer, more vibrant neighborhoods. We all win.

LID is just one tool we have in our toolbox that will help us build the future of a cleaner and safer Los Angeles.

Why not use it?

Please take a look at our other LID-related blog posts:

- Board of Public Works Weighs in on LID Ordinance

- Input Needed - Attend the Low Impact Development ordinance community meeting (12/01)

- What exactly is Low Impact Development?

- How will the Low Impact Development ordinance affect LA’s water quality?

- Why is LA’s Bureau of Sanitation department proposing a Low Impact Development ordinance?

- What folks are saying about the Low Impact Development Ordinance – reactions from community groups, businesses and residents