Stormwater Capture Takes Flight at LAX

A long-in the-works stormwater capture project finally takes off at LAX, reports Heal the Bay VP Sarah Sikich.

May 8, 2015 – When it sprinkles, it can pour. Yesterday was a good day for the L.A. Basin, not only because it got a dash of much-needed rain. Our parched region also took a major step forward in much-needed stormwater capture and groundwater recharge.

If you’ve been to LAX lately, you’ve likely noticed that many terminals are going through construction to receive a long-overdue facelift. Soon that effort will go underground–to construct a large-scale stormwater treatment project to clean polluted LAX runoff before it reaches Santa Monica Bay.

After several years of negotiations, Mayor Eric Garcetti signed an agreement with the Los Angeles World Airports and L.A. Sanitation to launch a $40 million runoff treatment project that will also recharge the local groundwater basin. The project is slated to be completed in 2019. Runoff from more than 2,400 acres of highly urbanized and paved land in and around LAX will now be captured and infiltrated into the ground, as well as being diverted to Hyperion for treatment.

Runoff is the largest source of pollution to Santa Monica Bay. Runoff from LAX now funnels completely untreated into the nearby ocean, dumping a slurry of chemicals, metals and bacteria into popular swimming spots. The newly unveiled project will help clean up water quality along Dockweiler Beach, benefitting the diversity of beachgoers that visit the popular destination–a day at the beach should never make anyone sick.

Three-quarters of the funding comes from voter-approved Proposition O, passed in 2004, which authorized up to $500 million in bond funding for the City of Los Angeles to advance a number of projects that protect water quality, provide flood protection and increase water conservation, habitat protection and open space.

With drier climate projections, it’s important to find creative ways to capture and reuse runoff. We recognize that such changes take major investment, and we hope that the project will bring awareness to the importance of finding innovative ways to fund projects and programs that provide holistic benefits to water quality, reliability, local water supply and healthy watersheds.

Heal the Bay was proud to be part of yesterday’s big announcement, as we helped pass Proposition O when Mark Gold, our then-president and current board member, served on the oversight committee The LAX project could not have been realized without the persistent advocacy and support of our environmental partners, including Mark Gold, Miguel Luna, TreePeople and Los Angeles Waterkeeper.

Let’s hope this is the start of something beautiful.

Mayor Garcetti signing the agreement yesterday. Heal the Bay VP Sarah Sikich (second from left) looks on.