Targeted Onsite Reuse For Integrated Water Strategy

The City of Los Angeles' (City) residents and industries have shown increased interest in sustainable and multi-beneficial practices and technologies such as water recycling. Given this trend, the City anticipates that a greater number of individual customers will actively seek to implement onsite projects that will reduce potable water use and its associated costs. To balance needs and serve as a model for other similar projects in the City, the One Water LA team within the Los Angeles Sanitation & Environment (LASAN) is in the development of the Rancho Park Project Feasibility Study (Project) to guide strategic decisions for a water reclamation facility (WRF) in the West Los Angeles area. The goal for satellite treatment is to evaluate the feasibility, cost, and effectiveness of expanding the recycled water system by implementing facilities across the service area that treat wastewater to produce a local source of recycled water. The study is a joint effort between LASAN and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), in coordination with the Department of Recreation and Parks (RAP) and University of California of Los Angeles (UCLA) to leverage resources based on mutual interests and benefits. The Project seeks to demonstrate how the City can rapidly advance a multi-benefit, green infrastructure, and recycled water project from concept to implementation in a cost-efficient manner. The feasibility study will determine the best alternative to meet regional recycled water demands and help meet stormwater and urban runoff water quality goals. Currently in its feasibility stage, the Project is evaluated from a One Water planning approach with themes on collaboration, multi-benefits, and balance. Regional collaboration and partnerships were established to leverage resources and goals. For example, the Project siting would ideally replace an active yet highly contested and litigated oil drilling operations within a City-owned golf course and park, the Rancho Park Golf Course. By substituting oil drilling operations with a potential multi-benefit WRF, collaborative efforts between LASAN, LADWP, RAP, and the local Council District makes possible the leveraging of stakeholder support, alleviating community stirs, restoring park integrity, and helping meet water resiliency goals by offsetting imported water with a local and reliable water supply. Another major advantage of this Project was the complementary water reuse and sustainability goals between the City and UCLA. Both Project siting and university are located within the West Los Angeles area, making the two proponents of each other's' cause. As a result, the City and UCLA are working in close coordination to align strategies. A holistic approach and the need to balance city and regional goals also played a major role in the study of the Project's feasibility. The Project is founded on the principles of multi-benefits: producing recycled water by utilizing wastewater and stormwater as supply sources and actively seeking to incorporate other sustainability aspects where feasible. However, deepening collaboration and insights into competing projects surfaced challenges as the study developed. For example, with wastewater flows declining and stringent regulations being placed upon the City, the City's priorities shifted to keeping flows in the sanitary sewer system. The Project was thus constricted from freely utilizing sewer scalping as its main recycled water source. Additionally, the Project's main stormwater supply source, a large volume of groundwater upwelling runoff nearby, was discovered as a major component in a California issued Time Schedule Order (TSO) and thus prohibited from use. These comprehensive efforts aim to fulfill the project's goal of establishing the best alternative feasible. Currently at the midpoint development of its feasibility, the study has shuffled and reshuffled its direction to shift and morph into finding the balance of meeting the greatest good and creating a project that is feasible, expedient, multi-beneficial for everyone to ultimately fulfill the One Water mission