Los Angeles & San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council (Los Angeles, CA)

General

• Mission:

In the past fifteen years, the Watershed Council has earned its position as the region’s trusted hub for essential watershed research and analysis. The Watershed Council is uniquely able to influence and inform public policy with applied research that is reliably fair, objective and rooted in science. Since 2000, we have managed the Water Augmentation Study which concluded in 2008 that it was safe to infiltrate stormwater to augment our groundwater supplies; as a result we built the Elmer Avenue Neighborhood Retrofit, a ‘green street’ in Sun Valley near the Burbank Airport. Other projects include collaborative water quality monitoring programs, one for each of the main rivers of the LA Basin, which address regulatory requirements for dischargers as well as establishing ambient conditions in the upper watersheds and the ability of the streams to meet the of the demands of the Clean Water Act for recreational use.

With a legacy of facilitation and collaboration, the Watershed Council is also the only organization that can effectively connect diverse perspectives to address timely issues with ongoing symposia and conferences. Our quarterly symposia (and related WatershedWise magazine) bring timely topics to the fore, allowing experts from various fields to speak with our stakeholders. The Sustainable Landscape Design Seminar promote landscapes that reduce water use and increase habitat - with courses for the designer and the maintenance personal responsible for these more sustainable landscapes.

• History:

The Los Angeles & San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council was founded in 1996 as a result of conversations begun by Dorothy Green and Mark Gold of Heal the Bay and Don Smith of Montgomery Watson Engineers regarding the inadequate communication among the governmental agencies with responsibilities in the Los Angeles watershed. Five different public agencies concerned with various aspects of water were not talking to the public or even to each other.

These conversations resulted in a decision to bring representatives of all of these water agencies (supply, groundwater, stormwater, water quality, and wastewater), regulatory agencies, citizen groups, and consultants together to figure out how best to remedy this situation. Today, not only are these groups talking to each other, many of them now participate in a region-wide “integrated regional water management plan” for greater Los Angeles County. These changes are largely a result of the conversations facilitated initially by the Watershed Council.

Today the Council comprises agency representatives of all water sectors (supply, groundwater, storm water, water quality, and wastewater), along with land owners, regulatory agencies, community groups, and businesses. The Watershed Council is first and foremost a stakeholder organization that works with stakeholders to develop programs and establish goals in line with our mission to facilitate an inclusive consensus process to preserve, restore, and enhance the economic, social, and ecological health of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed through education, research , and planning.
The Council works in all of the following areas: improving water quality and supply to bring the region closer to self-sufficiency, reviving a landscape ethic that values our native flora and fauna for low water use landscaping and habitat, enhancing communication between and among stakeholders, and facilitating integrated planning and management using a watershed approach. The Council also provides watershed management assistance to other organizations and agencies through mapping and graphic support. Our major activities include four to six Watershed Symposia, open to the public, per year, conference, and a quarterly magazine, Watershed Wise.

• Year established:1996

Registration

• Organization type:Grantseeker
• Country of registration:United States
• Year established:1996
• Tax Determination Letter:Received Determination Letter
• IRS Section:501(c)(3)
• IRS Subsection:509(a)(1)

Web Listing

• Guidestar listed:Yes
• Charity Navigator listed:No
• Give.org listed:No
• Charity Watch listed:No