Tag Archives: groundwater

Feb. 8 [Wed] – Obstacles to Groundwater Treatment at Santa Susana Field Laboratory: Assessing Water Management Options and Ecosystem Questions

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The RocketOutfall team is working in collaboration with Boeing to advance the groundwater treatment process at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. This project analyzes five methods Boeing could use to discharge this water, and investigates what impacts the most viable option (discharging treated water to a dry streambed) might have on the arid landscape. Boeing has previously pursued this option, but the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has asked them to consider the impacts on the receiving creek’s vegetation before a final permit is granted. Boeing is partnering with the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management to answer CDFW’s questions, and consider alternative discharge options.

Presenters are members of the RocketOutfall team – a group of 4 graduate students from the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management specializing in Pollution Prevention and Remediation and Conservation Planning.

Green infrastructure on the ground: The politics of aquifer replenishment in Los Angeles

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Sayd Randle, Doctoral Candidate in Environmental Anthropology from Yale University, will be presenting the roundtable for May 20th, 2015. Come learn about green infrastructure contributions to groundwater, an increasingly important issue in our drought-stricken state.

Abstract: The City of Los Angeles imports roughly 90% of its potable water supply from beyond city borders, and relies on local groundwater for the remainder. Environmentalists have long advocated for increased groundwater augmentation through rainwater capture and infiltration around the city homes, streets, and parks the sit above the basins. Recent drought conditions and surface water adjudications have turned policymakers’ attention to these techniques for producing an increased, “more secure,” in-city water supply. This paper uses a political ecology framework to examine the politics of reconfiguring quotidian city spaces to restock groundwater stores, drawing on fieldwork among city bureaucrats, environmentalists, and homeowners undertaking retrofits.

Parkway basin