Bag Ban Takes Effect

It's official - the Plastic Bag Ban in unincorporated Los Angeles County took effect yesterday, Friday July 1st.  The ban initially impacts large retailers, preventing them from dispensing sold items in plastic bags and instead requiring them to use paper bags only.  Cost of the change will be passed along to consumers who will be charged 10 cents a bag, unless they bring their own reusable tote bags.  Eventually the ban will include smaller, independent stores.  An overview of the ban was detailed by the LA Times:

The bag ban was touted by county supervisors as an environmental measure to rid the county of "urban tumbleweed" that pollutes landfills and gets washed out to sea. Paper bags will still be available, but customers will be charged 10 cents per bag.

The effort is intended to encourage shoppers to bring reusable bags to the market for shopping.

The plastic bag ban will affect anyone who shops at stores outside the county's incorporated cities, such as the communities of Rowland Heights, Hacienda Heights, Altadena, La Crescenta, Topanga Canyon, Marina del Rey, Baldwin Hills, Athens, Willowbrook, Florence, Rancho Dominguez, Valencia, East Pasadena and East Los Angeles. About 1.1 million people in the county live in the unincorporated areas.

Although some remain critical of the ban, this is a big environmental victory that should have long-term benefits for waterways throughout Southern California and beyond (see the Los Angeles Times Pulitzer Prize winning series on the ocean - Part 4 for more information on plastic bags effects).  Although incorporated areas of Los Angeles remain unaffected, the ban still impacts 1.1 million people, a figure that only 8 US cities (not including Los Angeles) have populations larger than.  In other words, this limited action by the County of Los Angeles actually produces a massive civic-sponsored change in urban function, pointing out how the scale of  Los Angeles is not just a challenge, but also an immense opportunity to exploit.  While we tend to focus on ways in which mistakes are magnified by the sheer size of Los Angeles, this ban highlights how small positive changes can also become monumental shifts for the benefit of the environment.

More coverage of the ban is available at the LA Times and at Marina Del Rey Patch.

LID Passes! (At least another round)

In rounding out unfinished business from 2010, a nice bit of news about the City Council passing a LID ordinance for Los Angeles before the calendar year ran out.  (Or, at least an important directive to prepare a full, legal ordinance to vote on and officially enact sometime in early 2011.)  LA Creek Freak has the details:

At its final meeting of the year, yesterday, Friday December 17th 2010, the Los Angeles City Council passed “LID”  Low Impact Development. You can read some earlier background at Creek Freak and elsewhere, but basically it means that, in the city of Los Angeles, new development (and substantial redevelopment) will need will need to be more sustainable in regards to rainwater. Buildings, landscapes, parking lots, etc. will need to slow, detain and store and/or infiltrate water on-site, instead of speeding it into storm drains, creeks, rivers, and the sea.

This took a while. L.A. Creek Freak started reporting on the city of L.A. efforts in September 2009, attended a workshop in October 2009, and reported on the Public Works Board passing LID  in January 2010. Plenty more excellent coverage is available at Heal the Bay’s Mark Gold’s Spouting Off.


It also took a great deal of effort from the city’s Board of Public Works and the Bureau of Sanitation’s Watershed Protection Division – in conjunction with city environmentalists, especially Heal the Bay, TreePeople, and Green L.A. Coalition. Some developers and building industry folks have opposed LID because it can make make some construction more expensive. Ultimately, though there had been opposition at earlier hearings, LID passed council with no elected’s nor public speaker’s opposition. It slipped in quietly via the consent calendar.

There are still a few steps before the mass proliferation of creek-friendly developments, too – the motion that passed directs the City Attorney to prepare the regulations, then those get adopted and take effect… stay tuned.

. . . .

Pretty exciting to recognize not only that environmental advocacy and education worked to pass the measure, but effectively worked (in conjunction with the support of environmentally engaged council members) to sway the entire City Council.   This bodes well for official passing of the final, legal measure once the City Attorney prepares it for the City Council.  Congrats to all of supporters of the measure, and the tireless organizations who helped move it forward.  The watershed, and I, thank you.  

Capture Rainwater!

Image from Tree People and San Gabriel Rivers / Watershed Council.  All Rights Reserved.

Still wondering whether localized rainwater harvesting is a good idea in Los Angeles?  TreePeople recently posted one of the better graphics I have seen from the San Gabriel Rivers / Watershed Council detailing exactly where all of Los Angeles's water comes from, including how far it travels to get here.  As they noted:

This is a critical issue for L.A. County because more than half the water used by our ten million residents comes from distant locations such as the Colorado River. Transporting this water to L.A.'s faucets and lawns is expensive and wasteful.

Harvesting rainwater will reduce our need to import this costly water; supply us with additional water during dry months; and reduce urban runoff that pollutes our rivers, bays, and ocean.

Given how far the water travels to get here, the least we can do is attempt to use our water wisely, but the best we can do it maximize ways to reduce the amount of water we have to import to LA.  

Still not convinced?  TreePeople provides a great summary of options and resources on their website.  Here are some links on the benefits of capturing water and both small and larger steps you can take.

• Benefits of Capturing Water
• Take Simple Steps
• Take Bigger Steps

Arid Lands Lecture Series

So this post is a day late and a buck short for last night's lecture featuring Aziza Chaouni and Liat Margolis, but the Arid Lands Institute at Woodbury University is featuring another excellent series of lectures on Thursdays this fall and winter.  The theme for the series is "Excavating Innovation: The History and Future of Drylands Design."  Recent lectures have covered such topics as the "Waters of Rome" and "Out of Water".  More information about upcoming lectures is listed below in their recent press release, and can also be found at aridlands.woodbury.edu/lectures.

Excavating Innovation: The History and Future of Drylands Design
Lecture Series: 2010_2011

The human need for water has ordered landscapes, given rise to culture, and shaped architecture + urban form throughout history.

Excavating Innovation: The History and Future of Drylands Design examines the role of water engineering in shaping public space and city form, by using arid and semi-arid sites in India, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and the New World to explore how dryland water systems throughout history have formed and been formed by ritual, hygiene, gender, technology, governance, markets, and, perhaps above all, power.

Excavating Innovation: The History and Future of Drylands Design brings together historians, urbanists, and contemporary designers to selectively excavate global historical case studies and reveal relevance to contemporary design practice.

Excavating Innovation: The History and Future of Drylands Design participants include:

Katherine Rinne:  The Waters of Rome
Thursday, October 7th, 2010

Aziza Chaouni + Liat Margolis:  Out of Water
Thursday, November 11th, 2010

Morna Livingtson:  Steps to Water
Thursday, November 18th, 2010 

Nan Ellin, PhD:  Canalscape
Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Vinayak Bharne:  Urban Water Crisis/Perspectives from South Asia
Thursday, February 10th, 2011

For more information, go to: aridlands.woodbury.edu/lectures

Location: 

Woodbury University
7500 Glenoaks Boulevard
Burbank, CA 91510
818 767 0888
woodbury.edu

LA River Events and News

Image from LA Times.  All Rights Reserved.

The LA River has had a good couple of weeks, including first its designation as a navigable river by the EPA (which might seem laughable given its general low flow and concrete banks, but is actually an important step towards potential restoration of the river), and then a couple of interesting profiles of cultural uses of the river from the LA Times.  The first showcased a couple of environmentalists attempt to kayak down the LA River, and the second highlight an artist's performance project within the river. 

Image from LA Times.  All Rights Reserved.

Image from LA Times.  All Rights Reserved.

I thought both were interesting because they provided striking images and views of the river in a mix of environmental, cultural and aesthetic contexts, highlighting how the current form of the river has a unique value that shouldn't be minimized or lost, but also a great future potential. 

Community Based Water-Harvesting Update

View of planter circa May 9th (top) and circa June 25th (below).

I posted about a small, raised planter / stormwater management cell a local group installed in a parkway last month, and here are some updated photos of it.  The vegetation continues to grow in, adding a spark of green to the street along with the promise of some vegetables (Tomatoes, Kale, and more) by the end of summer. 

 View of planter circa May 9th (left) and June 25th (right)

Community-based Water Harvesting

My neighborhood just got a welcome, new addition.  A local community group recently built a raised planter / stormwater management cell in a parkway to help control runoff from a nearby parking lot.  The cell incorporates broken concrete slabs to frame the planter and provides raised beds planted with vegetables and flowers.  While the cell is definitely a small, primitive intervention compared to many of the well-publicized, pilot projects we see in Portland and beyond, the project underscores for me the power of simple, community-based efforts for reworking our urban landscapes in a more sustainable fashion. Something as simple as some concrete, small grade changes and soil can help reduce runoff and increase planting area along a street.  Can't wait to see how well the cell works in a rain event, and the maturation of the plantings. 

Vote for Santa Monica Demonstration Gardens

(Project Site - from City of Santa Monica.  All Rights Reserved)

The City of Santa Monica is sponsoring a design competition for three demonstration sustainable gardens at 3200 Airport Ave, and wants your input.  Nine finalist designs have been selected from 27 entries, and now it is up to the public to vote for their favorite designs.  The gardens will be built side by side, and will provide examples of sustainable gardening along with design information, referrals and technical information to the public.  Voting closes on May 31st.  More information is available on the LA Times Home and Garden Blog and you can view the finalists, read more about the projects and vote here. 

Conservation Efforts Work

Despite a former vice president's belief to the contrary, conservation efforts work quite well.  Case in point,  Los Angeles.  The LA Department of Water and Power reported on Tuesday that "despite a population growth of 1 million people, the residents and businesses of Los Angeles are using the same amount of water now that was used in 1979."  DWP noted that the average residential customer has cut water use by 29.2 percent the past 9 months following the institution of mandatory conservation limits.
 

"Our customers' ability to reach 1970's water use levels at a time when our city's population has grown by more than a million people is truly remarkable," DWP Board President Lee Kanon Alpert said. "Angelenos understand the urgency for water conservation.
. . .

"Their actions show it, and we thank them for understanding the severity of the ongoing water crisis in our state."

. . .

During the nine months that these restrictions have been in place, Angelenos have cut their water use by nearly 30 billion gallons -- enough to serve 231,000 households for a year, according to the DWP.  As a result, the DWP is slated to purchase 16 percent less water from the Metropolitan Water District than it had planned to, during the current fiscal year.

. . .

The amount of water used last February was the lowest recorded water use during any February in 32 years, according to the DWP, which serves about 680,000 water customer accounts in Los Angeles.

It also marked the 31st consecutive month of reduced water use by the DWP's single-family residential customers. During that period, they collectively slashed consumption by about 30 percent, the DWP said.

"In a time when water resources are scarce throughout the state, Los Angeles is taking the lead and setting an example on how to conserve water and maintain a sustainable water supply," said James McDaniel, DWP's senior assistant general manager for its water system.

"The more we can rely on our city's available water resources, the better prepared we are to get through this water crisis as a state," McDaniel added.

Angelenos whose lawns are turning brown because of the water restrictions can take advantage of the DWP's turf removal program, which rebates customers $1 per square foot of lawn removed and replaced by drought- tolerant plants or permeable hardscape. The rebate limit is $2,000. (from NBC4-Los Angeles)

Arid Lands Institute - Spring 2010 Design Workshops

The Arid Lands Institute at Woodbury University in Burbank has announced their Spring 2010Workshop series.  Focusing on "Smart Design Strategies for Managing Water + Energy in a Changing Climate," it should be an excellent series featuring a nice mix of design professionals, sustainability experts, and advocates.  The free workshops are designed to introduce laypeople, developers, stakeholders, and design professionals alike to water- and energy-conserving design strategies. While I imagine some of the content may be general for knowledgeable participants, it promises to provide regional case studies, and an opportunity to dialogue about sustainable design strategies for Los Angeles.  Registration information is available on their webpage.

Workshop_1: Smart Buildings: Green Roofs/Green Walls
Saturday, March 27th
9 am – 3 pm
Linda Taalman, Taalman Koch Architecture
Deborah Richmond, AIA, Touraine Richmond Architects
Stephanie V. Landregan, ASLA, UCLA Extension Landscape Architecture


Workshop_2: Smart Landscapes: Yard, Driveway, Sidewalk, Street
Saturday, April 3rd
9 am - 3 pm
Fritz Haeg, Edible Estates
Holly Harper, NorthEast Trees
David Fletcher, Fletcher Studio


Workshop_3: Smart Systems: Rainwater Harvesting + Greywater
Saturday, April 17th
9 am - 3 pm
Leigh Jerrard, California Greywater Corps
Jenna Didier, Fountainhead Design

Water Wise Gardening Resource

I stumbled onto a great resource from the City of Santa Monica for homeowners and residents of LA's Coastal Cities looking to reduce their landscape water usage.  "Los Angeles Water Wise Gardening" plant lists, watering tips, and the ability to create a plant list for your yard.  Perhaps the best feature, though, are the case studies of real gardens.  Each provides a different prototype design for different coastal situations, and includes interactive features that allow you to click on individual plants in the pictures and found out pertinent plant information (including anatomy, cultural requirements, and design suggestions).  Great portal for the amateur and professional alike to get ideas for our coastal landscapes.

Life Without the Lawn? - Front Yards

Today's post in the running look at "Life Without the Lawn?" is a quick look at alternatives to the front lawn.  Presuming we decide to get rid of the lawn as our front yard, then what replaces it?  What does the front yard, that space where the public and private interface, on our streets become?  Here are some approaches I found in my neighborhood.  While each varies in how successfully it may improve sustainability or aesthetic interest over the typical lawn, what I found most interesting is how each approach feels unique.  Each alternative has  its own personality and a sense of place that enriches the residential landscape through their diversity.  Houses are set apart from one another, as opposed to conforming to a green norm of the lawn,  and begin to reflect the styles, interests, and lifestyle choices of their occupants.      

Greywater Action in LA

 (image from The Christian Science Monitor.  All Rights Reserved)

The Christian Science Monitor had a nice article about a seminar by the grassroots advocacy group Greywater Action in LA a few weeks ago.  The 5-day seminar on greywater took place at LA's EcoVillage near Koreatown, and focused on ways to recycle discharge from washing machines, sinks, showers, and tubs for irrigation of outdoor plants.  As the article points out, expect to see even more demand for this information and greywater expertise thanks for California legalizing its use last August.

In the months since California changed the gray-water permit requirements, demand has begun to build statewide, says John Leys of Sherwood Design Engineers in San Francisco, which has clients across the United States as well as abroad.

. . . .

'Ten years ago, we were not seeing any demand for gray-water systems," he says, but now clients of all types are requesting projects that range from simple and inexpensive backyard irrigation retrofits to complex, multipurpose gray-water systems that are part of the design from the beginning.

Bimini Slough Ecology Park

(image from LA Creek Freak. All Rights Reserved.)

Great overview from LA Creek Freak on the Bimini Slough Ecology Park, an interesting urban restoration project near Koreatown.  The article provides a nice history and background for the project including how the project came to be, details on its construction, and most importantly, how to get there to check it out.  A small excerpt from the post:

Fast-forward to the late 1990’s, and two non-profits which are located on this block:

• The Bresee Foundation grew out of the First Church of the Nazarine at 3rd and Juanita. Bresee provides services for youth and their families. In 2001 Bresee opened its community center building at the corner of Bimini and Second.
• Los Angeles Eco-Village (a project of its parent non-profit the Cooperative Resources and Services Project – CRSP) purchased two apartment buildings on the north end of Bimini Place. (Creek Freak Joe Linton lives there.)

The Bresee Foundation, under the leadership of Jeff Carr, began to make plans to close a block of Second Street to create a small park. Initial estimates for park construction looked to be about $400,000… until the city requested a $400,000 underground storm drain be built to get rainwater from one end of the park to the other. Carr told eco-village founder Lois Arkin about this, and she brought in the non-profit North East Trees to use that water, instead of getting rid of it. The solution of flowing that water on the surface of the park ends up being cheaper and better than building the infrastructure necessary to put that water in a huge pipe underground.

North East Trees designed a small park that features a creekbed bio-swale running through it. During much of the year, the creek is pretty much dry. When it rains, water from streets runs into the park. Vegetation in the creekbed slows down flowing rainwater. This helps settle pollutants carried by the stormwater. The pollutants settle into the soil and are broken down by microorganisms. In addition, some of the rainwater infiltrates into the soil, recharging our groundwater.

In addition to providing recreation and relief for the community, the park provides multiple watershed management benefits. It improves water quality (and air quality), increases water supply, provides habitat, and reduces risk of flooding. I like to say that we need thousands of parks like this spread throughout our communities, then we will have restored more healthy watershed functions, then we can more easily remove much of the concrete from our rivers and creeks… and daylight many of the creeks that we’ve buried underground.

Life without the Lawn?

Increasing water scarcity, rising concern for native habitats, and the need to reduce energy use and greenhouse gases are threatening the very existence of lawn in Southern California. And, while many would see this as good riddance, it also poses the question: what is life without the lawn?  This is the first of I am sure many posts considering the ramifications of our life with the lawn in Southern California, and what it might look like potentially without it.  First off - issues with lawn:. ASLA's The Dirt shared this report this week from the New York Times:

The New York Times’ Dot Earth blog reports on a new study on urban green space from Geophysical Research Letters, a publication of the American Geophysical Union, which contends many urban green spaces emit more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than they absorb. This is due to the high amounts of emissions from lawn irrigation, fertilizer, mowing, and leaf blowing. The study argues: “Turfgrass lawns remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and store it as organic carbon in soil, making them important ‘carbon sinks.’ However, greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizer production, mowing, leaf blowing and other lawn management practices are four times greater than the amount of carbon stored by ornamental grass in parks.”

Claudia Czimczik, a researcher at University of California, Irvine, and a co-author of the study, told Dot Earth: “Lawns weren’t initially invented to store greenhouse gases — they have a lot of other purposes such as recreation. But there is a lot of recent political discussions about lawns as carbon sinks, and if that is the case we need to consider the whole package.”
According to Dot Earth, the researchers looked at four parks in Irvine, including open lawns and athletic fields. Open lawns which use fertilizers emit “heat-trapping nitrous oxide,” which “offsets 10 to 30 percent of the carbon dioxide captured and stored.” Additionally, the fuel used in mowing and leaf-blowing ”releases four times more carbon dioxide than the lawns soak up. Athletic fields fare even worse because they require more maintenance.”
Czimczik said Californian parks may be a special case because park officials maintain their parks year round. More research needs to be conducted on the emissions of green spaces in other regions. She added that push mowers should also be considered.


Dot Earth points to the EPA’s GreenScapes program, which can encourages homeowners to think about land, water, air, and energy use in their lawn maintenance. Unfortunately, the article leaves out the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES), a comprehensive new rating system, which addresses all of these issues (see earlier post).

Ballona Wetlands

I visited the Ballona Wetlands in Playa del Rey on Saturday for a guided tour of the Freshwater Marsh.  It is a wonderful example of a constructed wetland that not only provides stormwater management for surrounding development but also helps reconstruct lost habitat in an urban context. 

The project was the result of a compromise between developers and environmentally-minded community activists.  They successfully negotiated a reduced development footprint for the nearby Playa Vista development, as well as the creation of a constructed wetland to manage stormwater and replace lost coastal habitats. (A number of other habitats were preserved or restored as well, including a saltwater marsh and dune habitat).  In addition, HOA fees from Playa Vista help support ongoing maintenance of the wetland along with the active efforts of the non-profit Friends of the Ballona Wetlands.

Since it was completed, monitoring of the project has identified over 200 species of birds utilizing the marsh, including 5 indicator species.  Although still a work in process, it is an ecological asset for wildlife and nearby residents who can see a wide diversity of California flora and fauna right next door.  During my visit, I saw white egrets, green-winged teals, red-tailed hawks, bushtits, a kestrel, red-wing blackbirds, and coots among many others.   Check out more about the project's history here.  

Environmental Hope - "A Cleaner Bill of Health for Santa Monica Bay"

Guess what - sometimes there is good news about the environment!  Especially when we take measures to stop pollution sources (I know, a very radical concept).  The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission (SMBRC) released their 2010 State of the Bay report, and it had some good news and hope for the future health of the bay.  As the LA Times reported, the assessment noted:

. . . the revival of bottom-dwelling marine life in the wake of treatment upgrades at the two big wastewater plants that empty into the bay several miles from shore. 

Diver surveys have documented sea animals and plants on the sea floor "where really it was barren before," said Shelley Luce, executive director of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, which issues the report every five years. "I think this is one of the more remarkable recoveries we've seen," she added.

"It's right up there with the return of the bald eagle and brown pelican."

Maybe not as visually dramatic: We're talking about snails and worms and other invertebrates crawling back into areas that for decades lacked the oxygen to support all but the most pollution-tolerant sea life.

While they might not be cuddly, charismastic megafauna, they are key elements of rebuilding an ocean ecology and hopefully signs of the bay's recovery.  Much work still remains to be done (note the historical contamination from DDT and PCBs persisting in sediment, and the ever present issue of urban runoff), but at least we can enjoy the return of invertebrates this time around.

Draft LID Ordinance Approved

Continuing the theme of stormwater management, I am happy to report that on Jan. 15th, the Los Angeles Board of Public Works unanimously approved a draft Low-Impact Development (LID) ordinance for LA.  The ordinance would require 100% of the runoff generated from a three-quarter-inch storm at newly constructed homes, larger developments and certain redevelopments to be captured and reused or infiltrated on site. If compliance is infeasible on site, developers could pay a stormwater pollution mitigation fee to help pay for off-site public LID projects like green streets and alleys.  Accordingly to Board of Public Works Commissioner Paula Daniels, "the new requirements would prevent 104 million gallons of polluted urban runoff from washing in to the ocean." (LA Times)  Supported design strategies in the ordinance include rainwater storage tanks, permeable pavement, infiltration swales or curb bumpouts to manage the water where it falls. A penalty of $13 per gallon of runoff that was not handled on site would be applied.

The ordinance will now move on to two more committees before facing a council vote and approval by the mayor.  Hopefully the ordinance will be approved in the next six months, and go in to effect by the end of 2010.  If so, next rainy season could be a whole lot greener.  For more information and coverage, check out Spouting Off - a blog by Mark Gold, President of Heal The Bay, for a great discussion on the significance of this ordinance, and LA Stormwater for a discussion of what LID is, including its benefits and examples of applications elsewhere.

How to Capture Rainwater

(image from http://www.treepeople.org/take-simple-steps)

With all of this rain, why not think about capturing some of it on your property? For those new to the concept, check out TreePeople's great guide on how, and why, to capture rainwater.  Solutions discussed vary from more minor interventions to larger scale, more holistic water management approaches.  Or check out the L.A. Rainwater Harvesting Program for further tips, and how to apply for City funding in support of rainwater harvesting at your home or business.  Every little bit helps, especially when added together collectively.  So take a look - there is a solution to fit your property and resources.

Real-Time Rain Data

(image from the LA Times)

Curious how much rain you really got by your house?  Check out the awesome LA Department of Public Works Water Resources Precipitation Page.  The site provides a city-wide map with default totals from the last 24 hours, and options for viewing precipitation totals ranging from 1 hour to 96 hours.  There are also links to rain totals from the last 30 days or for an entire season, including comparisons to our seasonal averages to know how well we are doing this year.

The good news: near my house we got over 3 inches in the past 96 hours.  The better news: reports say that overall LA is back above average for the this time of year.  Be sure to conserve - let's not waste the great week!