A program proposed by the West Basin Municipal Water District would include Malibu and involve educational programs for residents, including “ocean friendly” design and installation of gardens that would limit polluting runoff to local waters.
By Joe Fasbinder / Special to The Malibu Times
The California Department of Water Resources and the State Water Resources Control Board have recommended $25 million in funding from Proposition 50 to help fund the West Basin Municipal Water District’s Large Landscape Water Conservation, Run-off Reduction and Educational Program as part of the greater Los Angeles County regional group.
If approved as expected in January, the grant will help fund 13 projects for water supply, water quality, habitat and open space that have been determined a priority for the region, which includes Malibu and its environs.
“West Basin provides Malibu with fresh, drinkable water,” said Melinda Weaver, a spokeswoman for the district. “West Basin is a public agency that wholesales imported water to cities, mutual water companies, investor-owned utilities and private companies,” in and around Los Angeles, and some of that money will probably come into use here in Malibu in the form of ‘Ocean Friendly’ projects.”
Through the partnership with the Surfrider Foundation and several cities in and around Los Angeles, West Basin will use Ocean Friendly programs to help residential and commercial users design and install gardens that will help reduce runoff that would pollute ocean waters. The program will consist of classes for residents, which will include tips on plant types, designs and smart irrigation controllers to help reduce run-off around homes, providing rebates for “smart” irrigation controllers, partnering with schools and parks to create “Ocean Friendly” demonstration gardens and distributing the smart irrigation controllers to schools and parks with large landscapes.
“I can’t give you a precise figure, but I want you to know that some of the funding for demonstration gardens and irrigation controllers will be spent in Malibu,” Weaver said. “The area is big and has a broad ocean frontage. It’s a key part of what we want to do.”
The project was one of 13 recommended for Proposition 50 funding through the Integrated Regional Water Management Program as a part of the Greater Los Angeles County Regional group.
When the announcement was made in the city of Carson, Surfrider Foundation Regional Manager Joe Geever said, “We are just thrilled about this program. Everyone in the South Bay is aware of the problems urban run-off is causing with our oceans, and now they can learn what to do about it. This is another example of how strongly inter-related water conservation and ocean protection are.”
Chapter 8 of Proposition 50 allocates $380 million for projects that further water resource management in California. The greater Los Angeles County region was one of seven regions recommended for funding out of the 13 proposed projects.
The IRWM plan was established in less than a year by more than 500 agencies, including cities, counties, water districts, non governmental organizations, watershed groups and interested stakeholders in the greater Los Angeles County area and portions of Orange, Ventura and San Bernardino Counties, comprising a population of nearly 10 million people and spanning an area of more than 2,000 square miles.
To be eligible for the funding, the region received a state grant of $1.5 million in January 2006 to develop the IRWM Plan, which will be adopted Dec. 13.
West Basin has been working since the early 1990s with water supply management through a mix of conservation, water recycling and desalination programs.