Stormwater Management Importance Underscored in Los Angeles Basin Study Released by Bureau of Reclamation

Stormwater capture and recharge are critical to replenish and sustain local water supplies within the Los Angeles Area in California

Media Contact: Jack Simes, 951-695-5310,  Peter Soeth, 303-445-3615

Los Angeles Basin Study
Los Angeles Basin Study

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Estevan López has released the Los Angeles Basin Study that looks at the changing demographics, climate change and competing interests for available water supplies and identifies options to meet the water needs of the Los Angeles area into the future. The study found that there is a potential water supply deficit for the region of approximately 160,000 acre-feet-per year by 2035 and 440,000 acre-feet-per-year or 25-percent less water than the region is projected to need in 2095.

“Reclamation and our partners in the Los Angeles area are working to assure a sustainable water supply now and into the future,” Commissioner López said. “The basin study provides our partners the information that they need to further study the various alternatives for future water supplies while reducing their reliance on the state water project and the Colorado River Aqueduct.”

The study compiled and assessed the potential impacts of climate change in the Los Angeles area. These impacts include possible variations in precipitation and changes in the timing and intensity of storms through 2095, temperature increases of 3.5 degrees to 4 degrees Fahrenheit along the coast and 4.5 degrees to 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit in the mountains and desert, an increase in sea-level of 5-24 inches by 2050 and 17-66 inches by 2100, and an increased wildfire risk.

The Los Angeles area relies on imported water from the state water project and the Colorado River for about 57 percent of its current water supply. These imported supplies may be negatively impacted in the future by climate change, drought, and increasing demands. To address this increased uncertainty, the study focused on local water supply sources such as groundwater, which is an important component of the area’s overall water supply portfolio.

The Los Angeles County Flood Control District, a partner in this study with Reclamation, placed a strong emphasis on stormwater capture for groundwater recharge. In addition, recycled water and other local supplies were studied to assist with groundwater recharge. These adaptive concepts were divided among local, regional, storage solutions and management solutions.

The Los Angeles Basin covers approximately 2,040 square miles and features a population of 9.9 million people that is projected to increase to more than 11 million through the next several decades. Nearly 92 percent of Los Angeles County’s population resides within the basin, more than one-fourth of the State of California’s 38.8 million residents.

This basin study was conducted as part of Reclamation’s WaterSMART Program and was cost-shared between Reclamation, Los Angeles County Flood Control District and 20 local project partners. It is available on Reclamation’s Basin Study Program website at http://www.usbr.gov/watersmart/bsp/.

WaterSMART is the Department of the Interior’s sustainable water initiative that uses the best available science to improve water conservation and help water resource managers identify strategies to narrow the gap between supply and demand. For more information on the WaterSMART program, visit www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART.

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Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier and the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the United States, with operations and facilities in the 17 Western States. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR.

Executive Directive No. 14 – EI Nino Preparedness, Response, and Recovery – Issued November 6, 2015

Executive Directive No. 14 – EI Nino Preparedness, Response, and Recovery

 

The ability of the City of Los Angeles to support a unified, efficient, and effective
emergency preparedness, response, and recovery process is critical to the resilience of
our social and economic vibrancy. Of the sixteen types of natural disasters outlined in
the federal Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, thirteen
are possible in the City of Los Angeles.

This season’s adverse weather pattern, EI Nino, is expected to be among the strongest
on record, significantly influencing weather and climate patterns and increasing the
likelihood of significant storms. While the frequency, number, and intensity of these
events cannot be predicted with certainty, we must prepare for the immediate effects
and subsequent consequences associated with such severe weather, including short
and intense storms, multiple days of continuous rain, coastal erosion, large wave
actions, flooding , and mud and debris flows.

During the 1998 EI Nino, Los Angeles experienced its wettest month on record , and the
severe weather resulted in seventeen deaths and more than half a billion dollars in
damage. In early 1983, EI Nino was so powerful that storms decimated piers all along
the coast and damaged one thousand homes between Santa Barbara and the Mexican
border.

The actions we take as a City to prepare proactively for any and all of these impacts
have the potential to affect our livelihoods directly for days and years to come. We have
forged the following private-sector partnerships to enhance the City’s ability to ensure
effectively that we account for the needs of all Angelenos.

Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD)

CF 14-1349 Adopted – TO THE MAYOR FORTHWITH, (12); Absent: Englander, Fuentes, Krekorian (3)

ARTS, PARKS, HEALTH, AGING AND RIVER COMMITTEE REPORT relative to the feasibility of creating an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD) along the Los Angeles River to support restoration and maintenance of the river and river-adjacent communities.

Recommendations for Council action, as initiated by Motion (O’Farrell – Blumenfield – Price), SUBJECT TO THE APPROVAL OF THE MAYOR:

DIRECT the Economic and Workforce Development Department (EWDD) in consultation with the Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA), City Administrative Officer (CAO), and any other entity as needed, to draft and implement an EIFD Establishment Policy directing the process for initiating a study and adopting an EIFD for a general area or project.

AUTHORIZE the Controller to:

Establish a new account 22MXXX entitled River Revitalization EIFD and appropriate $75,000 allocated for consultant and noticing services from a source to be identified by Council District 13 into this new account.

Upon receipt of funds within the newly established River Revitalization EIFD/Fund No. XXX, appropriate therefrom on an as-needed basis.

AUTHORIZE the EWDD to prepare Controller instructions and/or make any technical adjustments that may be required and are consistent with these actions, subject to approval of the CAO; and, AUTHORIZE the Controller to implement these instructions.

DIRECT the EWDD in consulation with the CLA, CAO, and any other entity as needed, to take steps necessary to prepare a Resolution of Intention for one or more River Revitalization EIFDs, including but not limited to determining the EIFD’s proposed boundaries, goals and projects to be funded.

Fiscal Impact Statement: The EWDD reports that the recommended actions request the identification of funds to pay for initiation of consultant studies and noticing provisions necessary to consider a Resolution of Intention for the Los Angeles River. There is no immediate impact on the City’s General Fund. Any future impacts to the City’s General Fund resulting from adoption of an EIFD will be studied and presented in the Fiscal Impact Report required to be adopted by the City Council as part of any Infrastructure Plan if and when an EIFD goes through the public hearing process for consideration.

Community Impact Statement: None submitted.

Executive Directive No. 5 – Creating a Water Wise City – Issued October 14, 2014

Executive Directive No. 5 – Creating a Water Wise City

Los Angeles and California as a whole are currently experiencing extreme drought
conditions. The just completed 2013-2014 rain season was the seventh driest year in
Los Angeles since record keeping began in 1877. The combined last three years
represent the third driest 3-year stretch on record. 92 percent of the state is suffering
from extreme drought.

The drought has led our City to increase use of imported water to over 80% of
consumption.

Imported water is costly. Furthermore, our imported water supply is at immediate and
long term risk because of the impacts of global warming, which include a reduction in
the Sierra snowpack, the key water supplier for much of California.
The Metropolitan Water District, our major supplier of imported water, expects to curtail
supplies in the next 12 months. In addition, Los Angeles could face extreme hardship in
the event of an earthquake that severs the aqueducts that deliver water here.
Reducing imported water use is of critical importance to Los Angeles. City government
and the people of Los Angeles must take steps to confront this crisis, both in the short
and long term. In particular, reducing outdoor water use is critical to solving this crisis as
it accounts for more than half of all residential water use in Los Angeles.

Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts (EIFD)

CF No. 14-1349

Council instructed the Economic Workforce and Development Department, in conjunction with the Bureau of Engineering, the City Administrative Officer and the Chief Legislative Analyst, to report in 45 days on the feasibility of creating an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD) along the Los Angeles River to support restoration and maintenance of the River and River adjacent communities.

Read Los Angeles Times, Monday, January 19. 2015, New revenue stream? by Catherine Saillant

Los Angeles River

On July 3, 2014, the City Clerk transmitted the Los Angeles River Improvement Overlay (RIO) / Los Angeles River Design Guidelines to the Mayor . The lst day for Mayor to act is July 14, 2014.  The ordinance dated July 1, 2014, amends  Los Angeles Municipal Code (LAMC) Sections 12.03, 12.04, 12.32, 13.17 to authorize the establishment of RIO Districts and River Design Guidelines for designated areas adjacent to the City’s waterways. Council also adotped an ordinance dated June 16, 2014, amending LAMC Section 12.04 to establish the Los Angeles RIO District and to amend the zoning map accordingly.

Los Angeles River

Council File No. 12-0096-S1  Council Districts affected: 1-6, 9, 12-14
PLANNING AND LAND USE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE REPORT and ORDINANCES FIRST  CONSIDERATION relative to the Los Angeles River Improvement Overlay (RIO) District. Against proposal: Atwater Village Neighborhood Council (Arts, Parks, Health, Aging and River Committee waived consideration of the matter)