INTEGRATED WASTEWATER PLANNING FOR THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES: A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE CITY AND THE COMMUNITY

As the first phase in its Integrated Resources Planning (IRP) process, the City of Los Angeles has embarked on a program of policy formation and wastewater facilities planning that will restructure and redefine the future of water resources for the City and its neighboring communities. Recognizing its past, the need to involve public “stakeholders” early in the planning process, and the opportunities for cooperative actions with other service functions, the City initiated a fresh approach for its wastewater facilities planning effort through the development of the Integrated Plan for the Wastewater Program (IPWP). The purpose of the IPWP was to develop a set of policies to guide the next phases of wastewater facilities planning. The IPWP process used by the City of Los Angeles was unique because:▪It integrated water supply, water conservation, water recycling, and stormwater management issues with wastewater facilities planning through a regional watershed approach; and▪It solicited and relied on public input, from the very beginning of the process, in establishing planning-level policies.In moving forward with this fresh approach, the IPWP combined traditional engineering-based planning requirements with the views of a broad cross-section of the community to establish planning policies that were both technically sound and publicly acceptable.