L.A. has $556 million and a plan to capture more storm water. But will they ever do it?
LA TimesA swift-water rescue crew from the Los Angeles Fire Department assesses vehicles swept up in the Los Angeles River at the Washington Bridge during a storm in December. “I wish the whole process could move quicker,” said Carl Blum, a retired engineer with the L.A. County Department of Public Works who sits on a Measure W steering committee that gives preliminary approval to projects. “We are not Elon Musk, where he gets an idea and two years later he is doing it.” Environmentalist Bruce Reznik, whose group Los Angeles Waterkeeper filed lawsuits that pressured the county to adopt Measure W, is supportive but “It is going well, but it could be doing better,” said Reznik, whose influence now includes chairing the Measure W scoring committee. “The overwhelming reason these projects are being pursued is water quality compliance,” said Tony Zampiello, the water master of the main San Gabriel River Basin. “We don’t have the same water quality issues as Los Angeles County,” said Tri Ta, the district board’s second vice president.
History of this topic
L.A. County captures 96 billion gallons of water during ‘super year’ of storms
LA Times
California is letting billions of gallons of stormwater wash out to sea each year, report finds
LA Times
L.A.’s flood-control system survived epic storm. But it’s losing battle with climate change
LA Times
L.A. promised to stop wasting so much stormwater. But progress has been painfully slow
LA Times
California storms feed systems set up to capture rainwater
Associated Press
L.A. lets rain flow into the Pacific Ocean, wasting a vital resource. Can we do better?
LA Times
L.A. is conserving water at record levels, but it’s not enough as drought worsens
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