Evaluating the Impacts of Stormwater Management on Streamflow Regimes in the Los Angeles River

Read, Laura; Hogue, T. S.; Edgley, Ryan; Mika, Katie; Gold, Mark

doi:10.1061/(asce)wr.1943-5452.0001092

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Ultimately, source reduction strategies related to different pollutant streams (e.g., wastewater, stormwater) will be an important component of managing water supply and quality to meet multiple objectives. For example, LA has extensive plans to implement centralized and distributed stormwater treatment facilities, whose effectiveness has been investigated in other studies. ,, In addition, there is an increase in regulatory drivers for product reformulation, which would also reduce sources of contaminants, such as the removal of heavy metals in brakes and microbeads from personal care products . In a highly managed system like the LA River, where ecological conditions have already been significantly impacted by habitat alteration and loss associated with urbanization and water management, the ecological implications of such pollutants may be less important in the short term than in more pristine ecological habitats.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dilution and Pollution: Assessing the Impacts of Water Reuse and Flow Reduction on Water Quality in the Los Angeles River Basin

et al. 2022

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Los Angeles (LA), California, USA is one of many population-dense, arid cities whose treated wastewater discharge comprises most of the river flow (up to 70% in the LA River). Like other arid cities, LA plans to improve water supply by reusing treated wastewater and diverting nonstorm stormdrain flows. This study quantifies the impact of these management actions on pollutant loads and concentrations in the LA River. Daily pollutant loads and concentrations for total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), copper, zinc, and lead were predicted using EPA SWMM across nine wastewater reuse and nonstorm stormdrain diversion scenarios. Reduced flows generally decreased daily loads for all pollutants, but the impact on daily concentrations varied. Concentrations of TDS, TSS, copper, and lead increased with wastewater reuse, while zinc concentrations increased with the reduction of nonstorm stormdrain flows. Copper, zinc, and TDS water quality objectives were met less frequently with increasing flow reduction. These results elucidate the potential impacts of flow reductions on water quality and will help inform management decisions in effluent-dominated rivers.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dilution and Pollution: Assessing the Impacts of Water Reuse and Flow Reduction on Water Quality in the Los Angeles River Basin

et al. 2022

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“…There are also initiatives, such as that of the US Congress, that proposed an addendum to the Clean Water Act (CWA), to charge the federal government for stormwater management fees, where applicable, and proposals to finance social tariffs for those who cannot afford the fees. In the US, public health and environmental regulations make stormwater management an important issue and simultaneously a resource for water supply, especially in semiarid regions [41]. The decentralization of stormwater management is a strategy that seeks to reduce the flows and optimization of existing systems and those to be built.…”

Section: Theme 3: Regulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy, Institutions and Regulation in Stormwater Management: A Hybrid Literature Review

Novaes,

Marques

2024

Water

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Policies, Institutions and Regulation (PIR) aspects matter for different sectors’ growth and inclusive sustainable development, but there is little information in the literature on how to evaluate the effects of PIR on management options and outcomes or, on how positive results PIR changes can bring. In terms of stormwater management systems, or urban drainage, PIR is also a controversial and absent matter. Multidisciplinarity, several actors, countless formal and informal rules, and strong contextual path dependence make the subject complex and intricate. Considering the enabling environment, an alignment between policies, institutions and regulations is required to achieve good results and provide sustainable services. This study conducted a hybrid literature review of peer-reviewed papers in this field to provide an overview of how researchers have been studying PIR relations. The gaps show that the understanding of the PIR is fragile, as an important element for analyzing of results to be achieved, including SDG6, the financing and obtaining funds, guarantees and grants for the execution, delivery, operation and maintenance urban stormwater services and infrastructure. The contribution of this review is not only about what exists, but also mainly about what does not exist, since the void keeps waiting to be filled.

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“…The water reclamation plants are upstream of the study reach and their influence on the water temperature is already captured by the upstream river temperature boundary condition. The mainstem of the LAR is primarily concrete-lined for flood control purposes (Mika et al, 2017;Read et al, 2019) except for a 17.7 km reach in the Glendale Narrows, a 3.9 km reach upstream of Sepulveda Dam, and the estuary (Figure 1). The hardbottom section of the river is armored with uniform geometry to expedite stormwater removal and provide flood protection.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Steelhead are anadromous and migrate into freshwater to spawn between the middle of January to the middle of June each year in California (Santa Ynez River Technical Advisory Committee (SYRTAC), 2000), which generally coincides with high flows in the LAR. The steelhead are a large-bodied fish; adults average 721 mm in length across their native range (Quinn, 2018). A minimum depth of 0.3 m (1 ft) of water is needed for the adult migrating trout to swim up the river, while greater depths closer to 0.6 m (2 ft) are required for adults to rest periodically during migration (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 2019).…”

Section: Ecological Metricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal Suitability of the Los Angeles River for Cold Water Resident and Migrating Fish Under Physical Restoration Alternatives

Abdi

Rust

Wolfand

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Anthropogenic development has adversely affected river habitat and species diversity in urban rivers, and existing habitats are jeopardized by future uncertainties in water resources management and climate. The Los Angeles River (LAR), for example, is a highly modified system that has been mostly channelized for flood control purposes, has altered hydrologic and hydraulic conditions, and is thermally altered (warmed), which severely limits the habitat suitability for cold water fish species. Efforts are currently underway to provide suitable environmental flows and improve channel hydraulic conditions, such as depth and velocity, for adult fish migration from the Pacific Ocean to upstream spawning areas. However, the thermal responses of restoration alternatives for resident and migrating cold water fish have not been fully investigated. Using a mechanistic model, we simulated the LAR’s water temperature under baseline conditions and future alternative restoration scenarios for migration of the native, anadromous steelhead trout in Southern California and the historically resident Santa Ana sucker. We considered three scenarios: 1) increasing roughness of the low-flow channel, 2) increasing the depth and width of the low-flow channel, and 3) allowing subsurface inflow to the river at a soft bottom reach in the LA downtown area. Our analysis indicates that the maximum weekly average temperature (MaxWAT) in the baseline condition was 28.9°C, suggesting that the current river temperatures would act as a limiting factor during the steelhead migration season and habitat for Santa Ana sucker. The MaxWAT dropped about 3%–28°C after applying all the considered scenarios at the study site, which is 3°C higher than the determined steelhead survival threshold. Our simulations suggest that without consideration of thermal restoration, restoring hydraulic conditions may be insufficient to support cold water fish migration or year-round resident native fish populations, particularly with potential river temperature increases due to climate change.

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Evaluating the Impacts of Stormwater Management on Streamflow Regimes in the Los Angeles River

Cited by 15 publications

References 29 publications

Dilution and Pollution: Assessing the Impacts of Water Reuse and Flow Reduction on Water Quality in the Los Angeles River Basin

Dilution and Pollution: Assessing the Impacts of Water Reuse and Flow Reduction on Water Quality in the Los Angeles River Basin

Policy, Institutions and Regulation in Stormwater Management: A Hybrid Literature Review

Thermal Suitability of the Los Angeles River for Cold Water Resident and Migrating Fish Under Physical Restoration Alternatives

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