Rain barrels and permeable pavement are on LA agenda

L.A.’s Department of Public Works unanimously approved a draft of its Low Impact Development ordinance last week. The ordinance would require newly constructed homes, larger developments and some redevelopments to capture, reuse or infiltrate 100% of the runoff generated on-site in a 3/4-inch rainstorm or to pay a storm water pollution mitigation fee that would help fund off-site, public LIDs.

Low Impact Development is a fairly new approach to managing storm water and urban runoff that mitigates the negative effects of development and urbanization by controlling runoff at its source with small, cost-effective natural systems instead of end-of-line treatment facilities. Reducing runoff improves water quality and also recharges the groundwater. Board of Public Works Commissioner Paula Daniels, who drafted the ordinance last July, said the new requirements would prevent 104 million gallons of polluted urban runoff from washing in to the ocean.

Under the ordinance, builders would be required to employ rainwater storage tanks, permeable pavement, infiltration swales or curb bumpouts to manage the water where it falls. Builders who are unable to manage 100% of a project’s runoff on site would be required to pay a penalty of $13 per gallon of runoff that was not handled on site -- a requirement the Building Industry Assn. has been fighting.

"The Building Industry Assn. is supportive of the concept of Low Impact Development and has invested a lot of time and energy in educating our members on those techniques and advancing those technologies," said Holly Schroeder, executive officer of the L.A.-Ventura County chapter of the association. "But when we now start talking about using LIDs as a regulatory tool, we need to make sure we devise a regulation that can be implemented successfully."

Schroeder says some building projects, such as those in downtown L.A. or in areas where the soil is high in clay, will have difficulty with the 100% retention standard and that the $13 mitigation fee is too high. A one-acre building on ground where runoff could not be managed on site, Schroeder said, could pay a fee as high as $238,000. "We’re seeking flexibility to reflect the site circumstance," said Schroeder.

At the urging of the many business groups that opposed an earlier draft of the LID ordinance, the Board of Public Works has already acquiesced on some points."We worked out something with the business community that they can release the runoff if they first run the water over a high-efficiency biofiltration system. In other words, they have to clean it first," Daniels said.

The Board also decreased the per-gallon mitigation fee from $20 to $13. The mitigation fees would fund public LIDs, such as the Oval Street project planned for Mar Vista, where 24,000 linear feet of parkway will be retrofitted with porous pavement, bioretention basins and other water infiltration strategies designed to capture 2 million gallons of storm water that would otherwise flow to the ocean.

Approved by the Board, the LID ordinance will now move on to the Energy and the Environment and the Planning and Land Use Management committees of the City Council, before moving on to a council vote and the mayor.

Daniels says she hopes the ordinance will be approved in the next six months and go in to effect by year’s end. "I don’t want to waste another rainy season," she said.

-- Susan Carpenter

Photo: Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Portland Purple Water]

There is an awful lot of misinformation out there. Here are links to the draft stormwater LID ordinances:

http://www.lastormwater.org/siteorg/download/pdfs/public_anncmnts/LID/Transmittals_1_rv_1-19-09.pdf

http://www.lastormwater.org/siteorg/download/pdfs/public_anncmnts/LID/Transmittals2-8.pdf

Best,

Jason Garvey

Portland Purple Water
www.pdxpurple.com

[Graham Ray]

There are also a number of new techniques to integrate trees, soil and stormwater onsite in ultra urban areas that can significantly reduce the cost to the developer as well as qualify for LEED credit. The Silva Cell (www.deeproot.com) is one such method and has been used in Minneapolis for this exact purpose.

[Evan Little]

Excellent!

Orange County needs to get on board with this immediately. Instead of learning from our mistakes we spent $350mil on a ground water replenishment plant that pumps treated water into the earth to protect our precious, diminishing ground water basin from intruding sea water. How far backwards will we go until we begin to follow nature's path to abundance!?

[LB santa Barbara]

If the building site is high in clay, which has earthquake repercussions, or downtown L.A., don't build there. Are these developments really necessary. Most probably not. So the cost of building reflects the appropriateness of the building site. We do need to rethink the way we approach development. The monied developers have controlled the system to this point and controlled the dialogue. Rethinking is good! Rethinking may not be good for those looking to make more bucks, but lets consider the benefit to everyone, not just a select few.

[save the deserts!]

THIS IS GREAT!!

Please, please, please do NOT give in, again, to the Big Builders! They are the reason we are seeing all this flooding and poison in our oceans. They want to do everything on the cheap, and keep all the money - it is an unsustainable, unfair, and destructive model that requires a GROWN UP to stop. Can you be that, LA?

Not to state the obvious, but just like recycle bins and compost bins, the City should distribute rain barrels to all structures. People will pay for them - they are cheap!

New development can EASILY build underground cisterns large enough to collect all the runoff, so don't believe these guys citing the most hysterical numbers, as though they will not be able to capture or re-use a single gallon. First of all, they should not be allowed to build without some landscaping, even if it's a few dozen large potted plants or raised beds and the water can also be used for toilet flushing, water features or solar panel rinsing. Pump it into a truck and haul it to a nearby community garden or park.

Think beyond your laziness, fellas! Point of use solutions for water, heat and electricity are inevitable. Be an early adopter, and get all the good press, instead of being THE PROBLEM, AGAIN.