The role of Groundwater In Southern LA County

By Robert E. "Rob" Katherman

Groundwater pumping is an important source of our local drinking water, annually providing over 80 billion gallons or nearly 40% of the total water supply in our area. Groundwater reserves also provide an emergency supply during times of drought and natural disasters which might disrupt water deliveries from Northern California or the Colorado River.

Nearly four years ago I was privileged to be elected to the Board of Directors of the Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD). I am proud to be part of the WRD team that insures safe and plentiful groundwater to serve the nearly four million residents in the 43 cities of southern Los Angeles County.

Groundwater pumping is an important source of our local drinking water, annually providing over 80 billion gallons or nearly 40% of the total water supply in our area. Groundwater reserves also provide an emergency supply during times of drought and natural disasters which might disrupt water deliveries from Northern California or the Colorado River.

The WRD purchases water to replenish our groundwater aquifers and freshwater for the coastal injection wells which prevent saltwater intrusion along our western and southern coastlines. The WRD monitors groundwater quality to detect contamination through the use of more than 50 monitoring wells and provides treatment to clean up contaminated wells.

The WRD is actively developing local water resources to replace the need for scarce and costly imported water. We all need to be very concerned about the ability to replenish our aquifers with imported water from the Colorado River and the Sacramento Delta. In response to this threat to our local water supply, the WRD is proposing a series of projects collectively called the Water Independence Network (WIN) Initiative that will allow south Los Angeles County groundwater replenishment to become completely independent from imported water from northern California and the Colorado River. Our goal is to drought-proof our groundwater basins and to provide a safe and reliable supply of groundwater now and in the future.

To begin carrying out this plan, WRD is partnering with West Basin Municipal Water District to fund the construction of the 5th phase of the El Segundo Water Treatment Plant which will eliminate the need for more than 1.6 billion gallons of imported water used to inject into the West Coast Seawater Barrier wells to protect groundwater in the South Bay from seawater contamination.

In addition, the WRD is working to replace 8 billion gallons of imported water at the Rio Honda and San Gabriel Spreading grounds with advanced treatment of recycled water using Reverse Osmosis and Microfiltration. This is the same treatment used in desalinization of seawater and purifying bottled drinking water. An agreement has been signed with the Upper San Gabriel Municiapal Water District and the County Sanitation Districts to commence design of this new advanced water treatment plant.

The WRD has co-sponsored Water Conservation efforts during the past 4 years saving millions of gallons of imported water for the WRD service area. WRD has increased capture of local rainwater by nearly 10% past 3 years through the use of rubber dams which recharge the groundwater.

Of course the quality of our groundwater is always major priority.

Through our Safe Drinking Water program, the WRD currently operates 14 Wellhead treatment facilities to prevent the spread of man-made contamination. One recent example, WRD funded the cleanup of a Pico Riveira well which had been contaminated for years. This 13 year endeavor cleaned up 17 Billion gallons of groundwater containing high levels of volatile organic compounds that could have spread contaminating other nearby communities drinking water. The Pico Rivera well now produces 2,700 gallons per minute of clean, safe drinking water.

The WRD also has more than 250 monitoring and observation wells to detect groundwater contamination to detect the first sign of contamination. The District also tests drinking water wells and works with the Regional Water Quality Board and DTSC to prioritize and monitor contaminated areas.

WRD is working to cleanup 250,000 AF of Salt water contaminated brackish groundwater in the West Coast aquifers.

During the past 4 years, the WRD has resurrected the facilitated negotiation process to develop permanent long term groundwater storage rules that would ultimately allow 450,000 AF of water to be stored in our local groundwater aquifers. In addition, I am very proud of our "It All Flows To Me" water quality education and scholarship program that is now incorporated into the LA County Dept. of Education Floating Lab program. "It All Flows to Me Programs" are used in partnership with Aquarium of the Pacific and the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium which has been expanded to the Ocean on Wheels and an after school program. Other water quality education programs include the Mono Lake Outdoors Experience Education Program, the Boy Scouts Water Merit Badge, and soon WRD will be working with LAUSD for incorporation groundwater education in their after school programs.