Since its creation eight years ago, the Los Angeles County Sustainability Office has implemented policies to make the region “healthier, more livable, economically stronger and more equitable, more resilient, and ultimately more sustainable,” explained Raj Dylan, sustainability policy advisor for the L.A. County Sustainability Office, at the Public Works Commission meeting on Oct. 10.
In conjunction with the L.A. Board of Supervisors, the L.A. County Sustainability Office has been working to assess risks in vulnerable communities and develop initiatives in response. “We looked at various climate hazards and how susceptible the county might be to these hazards,” said Dylan. Some initiatives the office implements include developing an urban tree canopy and an extreme heat action plan for heatwaves. Dylan noted that sustainability efforts also target the 88 cities throughout the county. For example, last year, Beverly Hills instituted a single-use plastic ordinance with the guidance of the L.A. County Sustainability Office.
Next, the Public Works Commission discussed plans for a city-owned sandpit site on La Cienega Boulevard. Vince Thomas, water resources operation manager, said that the site used to be a deep-watering facility for sand with multiple wells based out of the location. As Thomas pointed out, the site has the potential for a drinking water well. “It is a city-owned property. It is in the sweet spot in the right hydrogeological zone. The site is in a very good location regarding water production,” he claimed.
Upon city-conducted monitoring, the report concluded that the water at the site was contaminated with gasoline and other related byproducts. “We kept sampling, and we corroborated that we have gasoline contamination and byproducts in all three zones, so we would have to contend with that going forward,” observed Thomas. Construction at the site also proved logistically hazardous, given the area’s multiple businesses and residences. The site’s small size created additional construction challenges.
The Ad Hoc committee voted not to move forward with plans to develop the site and abandoned further investigations of its potential. Next month, the Ad Hoc committee will meet again to determine the site’s future now that it has been ruled out as a potential drinking well.
The committee also heard from Josette Descalzo, environmental compliance and sustainability compliance manager, about the Consumptive-Based Emissions Inventory (CBE) as part of the Climate Action and Adaptive Plan. “This is an additional tool and data for us to understand the behavior of our community and focus on those areas where we could think of an educational process, outreach and utilizing some incentives,” said Descalzo. Over decades, UC Berkeley developed the CBE report, which the International Council recommended for local government environmental initiatives.
The CBE report provided positive feedback to Beverly Hills residents, showing that the city’s emissions were considerably lower than those of other affluent neighboring communities. Descalzo also discussed possible initiatives to cut emissions, such as carpooling, green business practices and local shopping.
“If you want to encourage people, we need to give them options, and we need to lead by example,” said Vice Chairperson Mark Nehoray.
Descalzo also presented regulations on water conservation that have been instituted as part of a conservation effort titled Make Conservation a California Way of Life. She mentioned that the city is currently 4% over the proposed water use objective, calculated using 2023 water consumption data. Water consumption can be decreased with an efficiency-forward approach to landscaping, such as fewer lawns and incorporating California-native plants.
“We have a lot of properties that have perched groundwater. We’re encouraging them to utilize that as a water resource for their landscape irrigation and rainwater capture,” announced Descalzo.
The city will continue to track and assess water usage data to adjust conservation goals. “We are on the right path, considering that the city has reduced water usage by 30% compared to its 2013 level. That’s a really good start,” said Descalzo.
“We must educate the people who live and work in the city. They need to understand that there is pressure on the city to reduce water consumption. My highest priority is water,” urged Nehoray in response to the presentation.
“The city is taking its responsibility very seriously in reducing water usage, but we need to advertise that. We need to ensure that people understand that the city is doing whatever it can to meet state requirements,” he concluded.
