Water Quality
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Water quality varies across southern California. Be sure you know the water quality in your area.
Groundwater Recharge, Retention & Pollution
Water Quality
If you were a Chumash Native American living 300 years ago or even a resident living in Los Angeles in the early 1900s you would have witnessed a lovely rambling L.A. River that would regularly flood its banks. All that changed in the 1930s when there was an extremely damaging flood and that is when the government decided to make a concrete floor and sides to the river so it could not wander or flood anymore. That fix did tame the river but there was a price to pay for the luxury.
Los Angeles water quality is always a concern
Otter image courtesy Bureau of Land Management
In 2006, The Angeles Chapter opposed additional land use approvals in Santa Clarita relying on water from the contaminated Saugus aquifer.
Once a year, your local water utility sends you a glossy pamphlet, your annual water quality report. Let’s take a look at one and decipher it!
Blank support letter for Los Angeles Groundwater Replenishment Project
In 2012, Disney proposed an expansion of the Big Golden Oak Studio, releasing a 5-thousand page DIER (Draft Environmental Impact Report), which the Sierra Club reviewed:
Chromium 6 Overview for the Sierra Club 2012
Water Quality
Resources
The City of Los Angeles’ Bureau of Sanitation manages a Watershed Protection Program that includes Low Impact Development, Green Infrastructure,Pollutant Prevention and Removal, and Environmental Compliance:
The Water Committee of the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter reviewed the Los Angeles River Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study in 2013:
In 2013, the Water Committee commented on the LA County Flood Control District Water Quality Improvement Program Ordinance, related to fees assessed to pay for projects involving improvement of surface water quality within the LA District:
2010 Support letter from the Sierra Club for the DWP’s Groundwater Replenishment Project.
Slides of a 2011 update from Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles Country presentation on the Clearwater Program
Comments from the Sierra Club on the Clearwater Program Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental – written 2012.
Water & Living in a Desert in the Santa Clara Valley – Recycled Water Disposition
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Assessing Water Quality
Water Quality Scorecard
The Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Water Committee is currently in the process of developing a water quality scorecard for the Southern California Area.
Until then, you can calculate your water footprint using the link below!
Draft Scorecard
[Top header image: Hollywood Reservoir, Hollywood, CA. A major storage area for LA’s fresh water needs. ©John Nilsson, All Rights Reserved.]
Water Quality Posts
L.A. County responsible for polluted runoff that flows into sea, appellate panel rules
Flood control district said its channels and storm drains were just conduits for upstream polluters. The federal judges side with plaintiffs regarding the L.A. and San Gabriel rivers, but not Malibu Creek and the Santa Clara River. By Tony Barboza, Los Angeles Times...
WETLANDS: Regulation haters join chorus urging new Clean Water Act rules
Paul Quinlan, E&E reporter Environmentalists and Washington lobbyists for agriculture, mining, homebuilding, road building, electric utilities and manufacturing industries have found something to agree on. It's time, they say, for the Obama administration to write...
Report targets waste, inefficiency in agricultural water use
By Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times A state expert says small changes in irrigation practices could yield significant water savings. California should more aggressively enforce the state's ban on wasteful water use and crack down on inefficient irrigation practices,...
METROPOLITAN WATER DISTRICT Water Summit
At the 2010 Metropolitan Water District's recent Water Summit conference, three presenters, whose remarks are summarized below, stated that large amounts of water are used in the production of energy. In turn, large amounts of energy are used to extract, move, and...
Take Action: Report Water Waste
Posted on 31 July 2009 By The Editor We've all witnessed water abuse: broken sprinklers flooding a sidewalk, sprinklers spraying on rainy days, hoses left running.With the state of California in its third year of drought, and with imported supplies of water in...
Too High To Pay: The Price Of Privatizing Our Water Supplies And Delivery Systems
Posted on 31 July 2008 By Lynne Plambeck Santa Clarita Group The Santa Clara River, at the site of the proposed 21,000-unit Newhall Ranch project. PHOTO BY LYNNE PLAMBECK California Water Law may be an archaic and onerous creature, but at its heart is the wonderful...