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)!

Who will be affected by LA’s Low Impact Development ordinance?

You may be wondering how you and your community may be affected by LA’s proposed Low Impact Development (LID) ordinance.

Here’s how.

The proposed Low Impact Development Ordinance will require that all new construction or redevelopment projects within Los Angeles capture the first ¾” of rain generated by a storm. This rainwater, once captured, will then need to be infiltrated into the groundwater or utilized on site. If these requirements cannot be met, project applicants will have the option to build mitigation projects in other locations including public right of way within the same sub-watershed to offset the runoff or pay a fee to the city to fund additional projects that reduce stormwater pollution in the watershed.

Homeowners that are redeveloping or building new structures (1 acre or less in size) will be affected as well, albeit to a much lesser degree. These smaller projects will be also need to capture and use the first ¾” of rain from storms. Homeowners will be required to implement two best management practices on their proposed project site – a rain barrel, permeable driveway, and grassy swales are just a few examples – to capture and use the rainwater. The City will develop a companion guidance LID Handbook to assist the City developers and residents in implementing LID techniques and strategies.

These little improvements, if implemented, could drastically reduce the amount of stormwater that enters our creeks, rivers and lakes every day. In fact, LID has multiple benefits; it will replenish groundwater supplies and conserve potable water used for outdoor irrigation.

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