People always say that Los Angeles doesn’t have seasons. We disagree. We can always tell that it’s summer by the inescapable desire to fire up the grill and throw a good old fashioned backyard barbecue. Celebrate the season with pride, Angelenos! Just be sure to also honor Mother Earth with these ocean-friendly tips that save water,…

Wow! Los Angeles has seen a lot of the wet stuff in the last few weeks! It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to say this, but Los Angeles is currently above average in the amount of rainfall it has received this winter. Add to that images of raging waterfalls in Yosemite, reports…

Do you want the good news first or the bad news? Let’s start with the good news. Californian’s plastic bag ban was upheld by voters with the passage of Proposition 67 last week. This means that effective immediately, single-use plastic bags will no longer be distributed by most grocery, convenience and liquor stores, as well…

Councilmember Curren Price Jr., representing the New 9th District, and other city officials unveiled the new Broadway Neighborhood Stormwater Greenway Project today at a ribbon cutting ceremony at Paradise Baptist Church in South Los Angeles. The project included the installation of a 417,000-gallon underground infiltration basin below the parking lot of Paradise Baptist Church. Four…

By Joyce Amaro, LA Stormwater Smack dab in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles’ west side is Ballona Wetlands, a natural oasis for creatures of all different persuasions. When one visits the freshwater marsh portion of Ballona’s wetlands, as I did recently on a bright and blustery spring day, it is…

When it comes to assessing El Niño 2016, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that reports from the Sierra suggest that, overall, California snowpack reached about 87 percent of the average. This means Northern California got close to the amount of water it normally receives, which helps replenish the past few…

With California battling its fourth year of severe drought, it’s no wonder the prospect of an El Niño rainy season gets us excited. If current predictions are correct, LA could get more than 30 inches of rain in the next 12 months! Unfortunately, all of that rainfall will likely bring flooding and mudslides, as well as…

It’s been almost two decades since the last strong El Niño, but in the wake of Tropical Storm Dolores that dumped record-breaking amounts of rain on Los Angeles last month, many are speculating that our region’s next El Niño may already be here. Talk to experts and you’ll hear that the weather phenomenon sports a…

Jan Flor had never given much thought to owning a rain barrel. But when she heard in November 2014 that Keep Los Angeles Beautiful was giving away free 55-gallon rain barrels that had been repurposed from Coca-Cola corn syrup tubs, she rushed to sign up. “I thought, Wow, this would be a really easy way…

By Joyce Amaro, LA Stormwater “Mom, what does a rain barrel look like? I want to make one and catch some rain!” stated my 7-year old son as the rain began to fall earlier this week. He proceeded to get out his Legos and “build” a very colorful rain barrel. Granted his rain barrel ended…