Another Quiet Water Supply Solution – Capturing Urban Stormwater

I must admit that when I first heard the term Low Impact Development (“LID”), I thought it meant locating townhomes near mass transit.  However, LID (also known as green infrastructure or urban stormwater capture) is rapidly emerging as a significant contributor to California’s future water supply.  My colleague Noah Garrison has written extensively about this solution here.  One clear sign of the momentum building behind this strategy is the new proposed ordinance that the City of Los Angeles is considering to require new homes, large developments and some redevelopments to be designed to capture, reuse or infiltrate 100% of the rainwater from storms that drop up to 3/4 inch.   Here’s today’s Los Angeles Times story.

Green Infrastructure was originally conceived as a way to reduce pollution from urban stormwater runoff.  However, by capturing and using this water, green infrastructure is also augmenting Southern California’s water supply, reducing its vulnerability to climate change impacts, and reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, in comparison with imported water supplies.  

The water that can be generated by green infrastructure isn’t even considered in Peter Gleick’s recommendations to develop rapidly one million acre-feet of new water supply through urban and agricultural water conservation.

All around California, one can find quiet solutions like this.  They aren’t as dramatic as fights over Delta protections and don’t receive as much attention, but these solutions represent California’s water supply future. 

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