ConnectingCalifornia.org

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Cleaning Up L.A. Stormwater Pollution Creates 2 New Parks

Chavez Recreational Facility Turns Trash into Treasure

http://sga-inc.net/BACKUP/LA_newsletter/Chavez.html

It may be hard to believe that a municipal landfill could one day be transformed into a public park that helps reduce water pollution and increase water supply, but it’s true. The former Sheldon Arleta-Landfill is in the throes of a major conversion that will turn this Los Angeles landfill into a multi-use recreational space that will simultaneously clean up the area’s runoff. It will be named after labor and civil rights leader Cesar Chavez.

City officials and local residents gather for the site’s groundbreaking ceremony.

Once completed, the 44-acre Cesar Chavez Recreational Complex in Sun Valley will not only restore ground water supplies and clean up dirty urban runoff, but also provide the public with basketball courts, baseball fields, bike paths, picnic tables, children’s play areas, and other community amenities. Divided into three phases of construction, the project utilizes the forward thinking idea of retooling an existing City facility into a park with the capacity to provide much-needed green space, recharge ground water levels and reduce polluted urban runoff flowing into the LA River.

Phase I of the project is nearing completion. It will restore the water spreading capacity in the adjacent Tujunga Spreading Grounds, currently operated by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, by renovating the existing landfill gas collection system. “Since Phase I is directly related to the improvement of water quality, the Proposition O Clean Water Bond program provided more than $3 million dollars to support this phase,” states Cynthia M. Ruiz, president of the Board of Public Works and Proposition O Administrative Oversight Committee member. “Directing stormwater runoff from rainwater into the ground also provides much needed relief for local potable water demands,” continued Ruiz.

Early estimates show that this project will significantly increase the water spreading activities at the Tujunga Spreading Grounds from the current 11,000 acre-foot/year up to 22,000 acre-foot/year in capturing the rainwater. An added bonus will be the use of the captured rainwater to irrigate the city-block-sized park using enhanced irrigation methods.

Phase II of the project will consist of extensive grading and earthwork to establish proper drainage pathways for the complex, and Phase III will involve the development of the large park and recreational areas. In addition to Proposition O, the project is also being funded by Proposition K, Proposition 40, Proposition 12, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and the Urban Development Action Grant Program.

LAstormwater.org

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http://eng.lacity.org/techdocs/emg/South_LA_Wetlands_Park_IS.pdf

South Los Angeles Wetlands Park Project

Using 9 acres owned by the MTA

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- SCCWRP's March 2008 study on treatment wetlands:

ftp://ftp.sccwrp.org/pub/download/DOCUMENTS/TechnicalReports/559_HabValFreshwaterUrban.pdf
(takes awhile to load)