Long Beach aquarium spotlights watersheds

The newest exhibit at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach is dedicated to local watersheds and to teaching concepts of water supply and use.

Unveiled at a news conference Wednesday, the shaded, $2.5-million outdoor exhibit, called “Our Watersheds: Pathway to the Pacific,” features a three-dimensional model of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel river systems and a carbon-neutral classroom — the first building in Long Beach to receive the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum certification, the highest “green" rating.

“California is facing a water crisis,” said Barbara Long, vice president of special projects at the aquarium, which is enjoying its seventh consecutive year of attendance increases, “so it is even more crucial for residents to learn about their watersheds and how their actions impact these systems and our water supply.”

The exhibit’s education programs for children and adults will focus on issues such as how trash in local streets can flow into local rivers, wetlands and coastal areas, and on the aquarium’s role in restoring the nearby Los Cerritos Wetlands and in studying the green sea turtles recently discovered in the San Gabriel River.

— Louis Sahagun

Photo: Children at "Our Watersheds: Pathway to the Pacific" exhibit, Aquarium of the Pacific. Credit: Aquarium of the Pacific

Santa Clarita Valley bans water softeners

Santa Clarita Valley homeowners will have to get rid of their automatic water softeners next year under a measure approved by voters last week. The softeners discharge a salty mixture into the sewage system and eventually the Santa Clara River, causing problems for downstream agriculture.

Rather than embark on an expensive upgrade of the wastewater treatment plant to remove the salts, the local sanitation district has been on an anti-softener campaign. Installation has been barred since 2003 and several thousand softeners have been removed under a rebate program. But there are still an estimated 3,000 units in use.

The Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District now gives residents 100% of the "reasonable value" of a unit, in addition to paying for its removal and disposal. Come Jan. 1, the rebate falls to 75% of the softener's value. The link above also provides information on water-softening techniques not affected by the ban.

— Bettina Boxall

Photo: The Santa Clara River after a winter storm. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

 

California's poor neighborhoods push for parks

Yosemite, Death Valley, Redwood national and state parks — California, one might think, doesn't lack for open space. But in the crowded cities of the Golden State, it's another matter.

Per person, Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest metropolis, has about a third of the park space of New York: 11.8 acres, as compared with 37.3. And it has far less than Chicago (18.7), Boston (18), Philadelphia (17.1) and Miami (16).

Within cities, the disparity between rich and poor neighborhoods is striking. Predominantly white Los Angeles neighborhoods have 31.8 acres of park space for every 1,000 people, as compared with only 1.7 acres in predominantly African American neighborhoods, and 0.6 acres in Latino neighborhoods, according to Stephanie Pincetl, a researcher at UCLA and the U.S. Forest Service. "Integrating nature into urban fabric reduces pollution and absorbs runoff," said Pincetl, principal author of the 2003 UCLA report "Toward a Sustainable Los Angeles." "Providing more green spaces in park-poor areas makes a real difference."

This week California adopted a new law, sponsored by the Assembly’s assistant majority leader, Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), to target $400 million in park bond funds to underserved communities. Competitive grants will be awarded under strict criteria: Eligible neighborhoods must have less than three acres of park space per 1,000 residents, and must have an overall income below 80% of the household median.

It is no accident that park-starved communities are the same ones that suffer from high crime, unemployment, poverty, obesity and asthma, de León noted.  "Health studies show that providing people with green space and places to play has broad impact," he said. "Creating parks changes childrens' lives."

The measure comes at a time of increasing environmental consciousness in poor neighborhoods. In July, downtown Los Angeles inaugurated its first new park since 1895, the 10.5-acre Vista Hermosa, with trails, meadows, a waterfall, picnic grounds, a playground and a soccer field. It sits atop an old oil field, an earthquake fault and what was once a weed-infested dusty lot.

-- Margot Roosevelt

Photo: A young soccer player runs to the top of Vista Hermosa Park. Credit: Genaro Molina /Los Angeles Times