Local Water Projects Get Funding Boost From State To Ease Growing Flood Risks

The Southland is getting a boost in funding from the state for local drought-resilience projects, including money to remove debris buildup in dams and an increase in grass replacement rebates for businesses and public agencies.

For L.A. County, some of the funding will go toward mitigating sediment flowing into dams. The climate crisis is helping spark more wildfires, and when it rains, the mud in those burn scars flows into our dams, making it harder to store water during wet years and also increasing flood risk in communities downstream.

As the climate crisis drives more extreme swings from fire to flood, dealing with that increase in sediment is one of the biggest challenges the county faces to boosting our local water supply and managing flood risk.

This winter, several local dams overflowed briefly as a result of that sediment buildup, but not enough to cause dangerous flooding, according to L.A. County Public Works Director Mark Pestrella.

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That’s why L.A. County Department of Public Works will get $10.5 million to reinforce the Santa Anita dam and help remove 600,000 cubic feet of sediment that’s built up in it from the increase in mud flow from wildfire burn scars. The agency oversees the county’s 14 dams and 27 spreading grounds, our primary sources of local water.

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Courtesy L.A. County

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The Southland is getting a boost in funding overall from the state for local water supply projects. The California Department of Water Resources announced this week it is awarding $217 million to drought-resilience projects across the state.

The L.A. Department of Water and Power (LADWP) will also receive $4.5 million to assist its efforts to recycle 100% of the city’s wastewater by 2035.

More money for less grass

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), which supplies water to 19 million people across the Southland, will receive $30 million for its grass-replacement program. However, that funding doesn’t affect residential rebates, which remain at $2 per square foot (though your local water agency may provide an additional rebate — LADWP, for example, offers $5 per square foot).

The funding does increase some rebates, including:

• Businesses, apartments, industrial and institutional facilities base rebates will increase from $2 per square foot to $3.
• Public agencies will see an increase from $3 to $4 per square foot.

The funding will also go towards installing more water-efficient fixtures in low-income households, as well as to help the agency purchase water-recirculating units for local fire departments to use in wildfire training exercises, according to MWD.

Additional Southland projects include:

• The Casitas Municipal Water District in Ventura County will receive $3.6 million to develop a groundwater well 
• The San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District will receive $2.6 million to install water-efficient fixtures in single-family and multifamily homes in lower-income communities. The funding will also go towards replacing grass with drought tolerant landscaping in homeowner association areas and mobile home parks.