How Much Rain is L.A. Capturing?
Local measures like Measure W are working. But more must be done to capture stormwater and rainwater.
At the very least nine atmospheric rivers blasted California between December twentieth and January fifteenth, causing flooding and extensive damage, while also delivering much needed precipitation to our parched state. The Los Angeles County Public Works Department announced recently that greater than 33 billion gallons of stormwater have been captured within the early months of the winter storm season, which shall be enough to produce 816,000 individuals with enough water for a whole yr. These capture efforts are an element of Los Angeles’ scheme to construct local water resilience and implement stormwater capture projects throughout the county. Officials are making progress, but there’s still an extended solution to go.
This post takes stock of Los Angeles’ performance in meeting its stormwater capture goals and discusses rainwater capture as one other opportunity to boost local water supply. First, let’s choose some definitions.
Stormwater vs. Rainwater
There’s a very important distinction between stormwater and rainwater. Stormwater is the water that drains off a land surface from rainfall before it reaches a natural water body. It occurs when the speed of precipitation is bigger than the speed at which it might infiltrate or soak into the soil (in other words, when the soil is saturated). It includes rain that falls on rooftops, directed through gutters and downpipes onto land or into drains, and rain falling on ground surface areas, reminiscent of roads, driveways, gardens, footpaths, and lawns. Collecting and reusing stormwater can conserve potable water, diminish downstream environmental impacts, and help prevent overflooding of the stormwater system. Stormwater after being treated is safer, and as such becomes a “recycled water” supply.
Rainwater refers only to the rain that may be captured in a storage tank prior to any contact with the bottom. Rainwater quality is far higher, provided that groundwater generally accommodates more contaminants, including soil, organic matter, fertilizers from gardens, and oil residue from driveways. Rainwater has many advantages and potential uses, reminiscent of washing clothes, watering gardens, flushing toilets, and washing cars.
Stormwater Capture in L.A.
Stormwater capture plays a very important role in the town and county of Los Angeles’ overall plan to conserve and source water locally. In 2018, Los Angeles County voters approved Measure W, a special parcel tax funding the Protected Clean Water Program. This system allocates $280 million annually for multi-benefit stormwater projects throughout the county. California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot called Measure W a “world-leading policy,” that may help reduce pollution flowing into oceans and bays. Consequently of Measure W, L.A. has more resources than almost some other place within the country to harness rainfall to recharge groundwater basins for future use.
Measure W is working. Since its approval, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works has awarded $400 million to over 100 regional infrastructure projects, reminiscent of the Rory M. Shaw Wetlands Park Project to convert a 46-acre landfill right into a wetlands park that may collect stormwater runoff. And updates to the Tujunga Spreading Grounds facility within the San Fernando Valley doubled its ability to capture stormwater from 8,000 acre-feet per yr to 16,000, which might potentially provide enough water for 64,000 households annually. This month, Vice President Kamala Harris joined state and native leaders on the Tujunga Spreading Grounds to focus on the work happening at the power and in California as a paradigm for the remainder of the nation.
Despite the implementation of those successful projects, county officials have said it is going to take three to 5 a long time to construct a stormwater capture system that can provide enough water for the realm. The final word goal is to capture 300,000 acre-feet, or roughly 98 billion gallons, of water annually. Last yr, L.A. collected only about 8% of the water the county consumes in a given yr. A part of the challenge is that L.A.’s current hundred-year-old system was built with flood protection, slightly than drought, in mind. City planners placed thousands and thousands of barrels of concrete to do away with water as fast as possible, channelizing the L.A. River, Ballona Creek, and nearly every other waterway in the realm. Although a couple of regional watersheds, just like the Upper San Gabriel River, possess good soils and systems for capturing stormwater, they’re few and much between.
Managing the influx of water in a historic drought is hard. During normal rain events, green infrastructure projects reminiscent of parks and gardens may also help capture and store more water. But during extreme events, just like the recent atmospheric rivers, larger infrastructure investments are mandatory. It may possibly even be difficult to garner public and political support for constructing big stormwater projects during dry times. A silver lining of the recent storms is that they’ve motivated the State Water Resources Control Board to fast-track stormwater capture efforts. “The state is capturing more water supply by accelerating groundwater recharge permitting and projects that mitigate the impacts of prolonged drought and support long-term sustainable groundwater management,” said Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth.
Because Los Angeles County has 88 cities and 200 water agencies, it is vital to have regionwide policies like Measure W that prioritize collaboration amongst water managers and be certain that funds are being distributed throughout the county. As Bruce Reznik, Executive Director of LA Waterkeeper, stated, urban stormwater runoff is “death by 1,000 cuts,” and it requires solving “with 1,000 different solutions.” Achieving the county’s stormwater capture goals calls for continued regionwide efforts, regarding stormwater as an asset slightly than a liability, and prioritizing water resilience even within the absence of catastrophe.
Rainwater Capture
Collecting rainwater is one other way for Angelenos to construct local water resilience. Households can install rainwater systems that catch rain from the roof of their properties and siphon it to a big barrel, tank, or cistern. Underground capture systems can be used, which works by capturing rain that lands on a permeable surface and filtering it through several layers of rock before it collects in underground containers.
For a few years, rainwater collection was actually illegal in California to forestall business entities from disrupting natural ecosystems by constructing large reservoirs with the capability to amass thousands and thousands of gallons of water that will normally flow to a watershed. The State Water Resources Control Board used to require all would-be appropriators to use for and acquire a permit to appropriate water from any source, including water falling in the shape of precipitation. But in 2012, Governor Brown passed Assembly Bill 1750, or the Rainwater Capture Act, which allows private residents to put in, use, and maintain systems for collecting rainwater for specific purposes, assuming they meet certain requirements. Homeowners can collect rainwater for non-potable uses, including gardening, landscaping, and washing vehicles. The State of California doesn’t regulate the variety of gallons of rainwater that homeowners can collect so long as there aren’t any threats to public health.
In 2015, the State Legislature passed Proposition 1, which allocates state funds for water supply infrastructure projects, including rainwater harvesting systems. The law is meant to carry businesses accountable for his or her water usage by requiring them, through recent construction codes, to make use of captured rainwater of their toilets and for irrigation. Moreover, Proposition 72, which amended the State Structure, goals to encourage rainwater catchment by excluding the worth of rainwater capture systems installed between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2028 from property tax assessments. The worth of the catchment system could be included in the worth of the house when it’s sold. The savings for homeowners under Prop. 72 varies. An affordable system may end in only a couple of dollars saved in property taxes. But greater, costlier systems can cost 1000’s to put in and would otherwise raise property taxes a noticeable amount.
Harvesting rainwater has many advantages. Because rainwater tanks have limited capability, rainwater collectors are forced to watch out with how they use the water they capture, which might significantly help reduce water waste, relieve the pressure on local reservoirs, and lower municipal water bills. Moreover, because one fifth of California’s electricity is consumed by pumping and processing water, rainwater collection reduces demand on public potable water supplies and lowers energy consumption for water treatment and distribution. Harvesting rainwater also decreases the amount and velocity of stormwater runoff, resulting in decreased flooding, reduced stream bank erosion, and fewer pollutants entering waterbodies. As well as, the usage of untreated rainwater for irrigation reduces the quantity of chemicals needed to make municipal water supplies protected, stopping more chemicals from leaching into local groundwater. Rainwater capture may also help households achieve water self-sufficiency, which is especially invaluable in light of the state’s and county’s adopted water restrictions.
Although rainfall isn’t all the time reliable in Southern California, Los Angeles receives around 15 inches of rain per yr, and each inch of rain yields around 625 gallons of water on a 1000-foot roof. Installing rainwater capture systems can be expensive, but rebates, just like the SoCal Water$mart Rebate Program, may also help offset costs for residential and business owners in search of to acquire a rain barrel or cistern. The City of Santa Monica also offers a rebate of as much as $2,000 for property owners to install rainwater harvesting systems, depending on the scale of the system. Measures may have to be taken to maintain contaminants, like dust or mosquitos, out of the rainwater. Households also needs to check their Homeowners Association bylaws for any restrictions on rainwater capture systems.
Takeaways
L.A. has implemented municipal and regional infrastructure projects throughout the county to capture and clean up stormwater with robust funding from Measure W. But continued regionwide efforts are mandatory to fulfill the county’s ultimate water supply goals. Rainwater capture presents one other opportunity to boost local water supply, with the added advantages of lowering municipal water bills, cutting energy consumption for water treatment and distribution, and reducing pollution in surrounding waterbodies and native groundwater.
