L.A. River environmental flows study receives key stakeholder endorsement

A two-year study working to determine the potential ecological and recreational effects of diverting treated wastewater effluent and runoff from the Los Angeles River for water recycling purposes has received a key endorsement from project stakeholders.

At a March meeting, the Stakeholder Workgroup for the Los Angeles River Flows Project endorsed the technical approach that SCCWRP and its partners are using to analyze the impacts of various water-recycling scenarios.

The analysis involves developing a series of hydrologic sensitivity curves, then using these curves alongside a series of key hydrologic metrics to evaluate how sensitive species, habitats and recreational benefits like kayaking will be impacted by changes in river flows.

The project marks the first effort by California’s water-quality management community to study both the ecological and recreational impacts of increased water-recycling practices. Three wastewater treatment plants discharge into the effluent-dominated L.A. River.