The Santa Monica Bay’s dry-weather water quality record has improved and some habitats have rebounded since the release of a report five years ago on the bay’s environmental health.
But the latest analysis of the waters off the South Bay coastline points to some lingering problems, including contaminated seafood, threatened fish populations and pollution caused by wet weather discharges.
Link to 2010 State of the Bay Report published by the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission
Join LABS young professionals on the Los Angeles-Glendale Water Reclamation Plant tour, followed by lunch, on January 26th.
Click here for more information!
City of Los Angeles and Santa Monica low flow diversion projects (low flow stormwater is sent to wastewater treatment plants for clean-up) (credit: City of LA)
The California State Water Resources Control Board released a list of projects receiving stimulus funds. The stimulus funding is almost all gone and projects have been selected – now it’s time to kick construction into high-gear and get to work!
THE SWRCB is in charge of selecting wastewater/stormwater projects for Federal Stimulus funding after California received $280-million for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. The stimulus funds were approved by the and President in February as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Projects must start digging or be under contract by February 17, 2010. The SWRCB estimates hundreds of jobs will be created by these projects. The ARRA funding is a mix of stimulus dollars and regularly allocated Clean Water Start Revolving Fund dollars – the SWRCB has simply lumped the projects together under a “Stimulus Projects” heading.
Los Angeles County projects announced so far:
- City of Los Angeles – Santa Monica Bay Low Flow Diversions Upgrades – $4,340,000
- City of Long Beach – Colorado Lagoon Beaches Restoration – $3,200,000
- City of Long Beach – LA River VSS Unit – $583,000
- City of Hermosa Beach – Hermosa Strand Infiltration Trench – $950,850
- City of Redondo Beach – Sapphaire Storm Drain Low Flow Diversion – $200,000
- City of Los Angeles – Mar Vista Recreation Center Stormwater Treatment Retrofit – $1,766,568
- Water Replenishment District (Lakewood) - Vander Lans Advanced Water Treatment Facility Expansion – $478,750 Bureau of Reclamation grant
- Central Basin Municipal Water District (Commerce) - Southeast Water Reliability Project Phase 1 (expanded use of recycled water) – $5,600,000 B of R grant
- Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District – City of Industry new water recycling facility – $4,850,000 B of R grant
- Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District – Rosemead recycled water expansion project – $750,000 B of R grant
- Long Beach Water Dept. – Desalination Research and Development Project – $3,006,005 – B of R grant
- City of Malibu – Paradise Cove Stormwater Treatment System - $816,276
- Greater Los Angeles County Integrated Regional Water Mgmt Authority - Catch basin inserts in several Los Angeles cities - $10,000,000
- City of Los Angeles – Terminal Island Renewable Energy (T.I.R.E.) deep well biosolids injection/energy recovery project - $4,800,000 DOE grant – New!
- City of Redondo Beach – Alta Vista Diversion and Reuse Project - $2,200,000 - New!
- City of Hermosa Beach – Pier Avenue Improvments – $1,265,000 - New!
- Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation - Ballona Creek Rain Gardens Project - $1,889,6692 - New!
Speakers Tim Haug, Deputy City Engineer for Los Angeles and Rich Atwater General Manager of the Inland Empire Utilities Agency.
By Wendy Wert
LABS Director
CWEA Chair, Training Coordination
On September 24, 2009 the American Academy of Environmental Engineers (AAEE) hosted a dinner and networking seminar at Loyola Marymount University (LMU). Participants were enlightened, inspired, and entertained. The “Sustainable Wastewater Operations” topic drew attendees from a broad spectrum of the environmental profession, including: professors, researchers, managers, practitioners, technicians, advocates, manufacturers, vendors and students. The evening began with a stimulating networking session on the breezeway of LMU’s University Center. Participants then dined in the MacIntosh Room where they engaged in discussions of resource recovery alternatives from individual experiences. In addition to the sponsored students, two LMU engineering classes joined attendees in the Ahmanson Auditorium for the presentation portion of the event.
The City's dedicated and award winning sewer cleaning crews are one of the reasons for the outstanding performance this year.
The City reached an important milestone this year, recently announcing they achieved a record performance for their 6,500 miles of wastewater pipelines with the lowest number of wastewater overflows this decade. The City’s Bureau of Sanitation provides wastewater collection and treatment for over 4 million people and 100,000 businesses within the 600 square mile LA basin.
Officials point to four key Bureau programs:
- Fats, oil and grease (FOG) control programs
- Focused tree root control program
- Improved sewer planning and renewal
- More sewers inspected, more cleaned and more of those ancient sewer lines are being upgraded or replaced
From Bureau Director Enrique C. Zaldivar…
“These numbers show that the Bureau of Sanitation has taken an aggressive approach in developing and executing programs to reduce SSOs. I am very proud of our wastewater conveyance and collections staff and crew. Rain or shine, day or night, our committed staff is in the community, keeping the pipes flowing. These excellent results demonstrate the City’s continued commitment to the protection of public health and the environment.”
And praise from environmental organizations…
“My congratulations to the Bureau for consistently designing, constructing and maintaining the sewerage infrastructure that protects our communities and our coast; the 77% reduction in spills is a wonderful accomplishment,” said Tom Ford, Executive Director, Santa Monica Baykeeper
Read the City’s press release here…
Cheers West Basin!
On Wednesday Sept. 9th over 60 professionals from LABS and SARBS took a guided tour of the West Basin Municipal Water District’s water recycling facility in El Segundo.
West Basin’s Manager of Public & Gov’t Affairs Ron Wildermuth gave an enlightening talk on SoCal’s dire water situation and what West Basin is doing to secure more local supplies for their customers. Their plan, called Water Reliability 2020 involves several different projects to diversive the region’s water supplies and move away from dependence on expensive and dwindling imported supplies. One of West Basin’s main messages is – spread the word about water efficiency in your community, Southern California needs public support for clean water projects now more than ever.
Public tours of the Edward C. Little Water Reclamation Facility are offered the second Saturday of each month at 9:30am – it is a fantastic tour and well worth taking. Contact info is on West Basin’s website at www.westbasin.com.
The CWEA Ops Challenge winners - LA Wrecking Crew (l-r): Mario Gomez, Alternate; Jesus Garibay; Paul Johnson, Captain; Jeff Valdes; Dale Dollins
Local members and agencies were big winners at the Annual Conference in Palm Springs earlier this year. LABS member and CWEA Past-President Dave Greenwood (LACSD) hosted the awards luncheon – handing out awards to dozens of agencies and individuals.
LABS very own newsletter, Sewer Leaks, was honored as Large Circulation Newsletter of the Year and Editor Wendy Wert (LACSD) received the award. Wendy, a LABS Director, TCC Chair and professional engineer, served as editor over the last three years – never once missing an issue. The editing reigns have now passed to Alice Kuo, also an LACSD engineer.
Thanks to member and sponsor support LABS was able to donate $1,000 to the Kirt Brooks scholarship fund. Past-President Patrick Griffith and former Treasurer Dan Gary presented the oversized check to CWEA during the awards luncheon.
More stories and photos after the jump…
The EPA released an updated list of the top 20 on-site power producers in the U.S. – paper company Kimberly Clark was number one producing 192,730,000 kW.
Second, and top public agency, is the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts producing 171,144,000 kW – providing for 50% of the agency’s power needs at its multiple facilities.
Now that’s some powerful energy recycling!
There’s a nice summary of LACSD power generating systems on the SCAP website.
Nearly 80 hikers and dozens of volunteers conquered the hills above Malibu on Saturday. Water for People LA reports they raised over $5,000!
Watch the Hike-a-thon video here.
Join LABS on Thursday, June 18th for a fascinating dinner presentation on Water for People’s new Rwanda efforts! 6:00pm at the Monterey Hill Restaurant. Flyer and RSVP here.
Click a picture to see a larger version. Learn more at www.waterforpeoplela.com.
LACSD Wins AAEE Grand Prize for Research
By Wendy Wert
LABS Director
On May 6, 2009, the American Academy of Environmental Engineers (AAEE) continued to recognition of contributions to the field at their annual awards luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington DC. Kicking off this year’s event was a champagne reception featuring displays of the winning projects in the 2009 Excellence in Environmental Engineering® competition. At the Luncheon which followed the reception, individual awards were presented to: Thomas E. Wilson (Gordon Maskew Fair Award), Stephen P. Graef (Stanley E. Kappe Award), Walter J. Bishop (Edward J. Cleary Award), Perry McCarty and Michael J. Rouse (Honorary Members).
The new LABS Board was sworn in on April 23rd by CWEA’s outgoing President David Greenwood.
(Photo credit: Julie Turnbaugh)
View Board members after the jump…
The City of Los Angeles designed Vista Hermosa Park to capture and clean stormwater. (credit: City of LA)
By Wendy Wert
LABS Director
On March 19, 2009, the Los Angeles Basin Section (LABS) of the California Water Environment Association (CWEA) hosted the “Water Quality Compliance Master Plan for Urban Runoff” at the Taix French Restaurant in Los Angeles.
A highlight of the program was the inspired introductory remarks of CWEA President Dave Greenwood. President Greenwood’s discussion focused on a primary objective of CWEA, to enhance the education and effectiveness of industry professionals through training and certification. President Greenwood explained the role that the local sections have in carrying out this mission through supporting partnerships with state and national affiliations.
