The Importance of Multi-Benefit Projects for Stormwater Capture and Recreation

The proposed Adventure Park Multi-Benefit Stormwater Capture Project, located in the unincorporated community of South Whittier, will help improve water quality in Coyote Creek and the San Gabriel River while offering various community benefits. The project involves the construction of new drainage infrastructure to capture and treat stormwater and enhancements to the park, including drought-tolerant landscaping with educational signs, new exercise equipment, walking paths, and renovated sports fields.

As Susan Carpenter reports, the $41.2 million project is partly funded with property tax revenues generated through Measure W, the LA County ballot initiative voters approved in 2018. The Safe Clean Water Program, as it is also known, taxes property owners within the LA County Flood Control District 2.5 cents per square foot of impermeable surface area. Those funds are then used to increase local water supplies and improve water quality. Annually, the countywide program generates as much as $285 million.

Adventure Park will be closed while the stormwater capture project is under construction. It will take about two years to build the underground storage system and upgrade the facilities above ground, during which time residents may visit nearby Mayberry and Sorensen Parks.