LA County Clean Water Clean Beaches Measure

A Collaborative Local Approach

The way in which stormwater flows doesn’t necessarily follow city lines. Many cities send water to the same place, such as the Los Angeles River, San Gabriel River or Ballona Creek. Ultimately, all that stormwater ends up going to our Bay and coastal waters. 

This Measure allows cities and the County to work collaboratively on water quality projects where they make the most sense, from inland all the way to the ocean, rather than having a string of very expensive and perhaps redundant projects paid for by each city. Projects funded by the measure may be single-purpose, or may be multi-purpose and multi-benefit, cleaning water, recharging groundwater supplies, and beautifying public spaces.

The Measure sends 40% of funds directly back to cities and County unincorporated communities, in proportion to the fees paid by property owners in that area. Cities make decisions about funding local water quality projects, which can include new and existing services such as sweeping streets to capture trash, and maintaining storm drains and filters. 

The Measure also sends 50% of funds to Watershed Authority Groups, regional collaborative groups of cities and County unincorporated communities in that watershed. Watershed Authority Groups make decisions about funding regional water quality projects in the 9 watershed areas. (See Clean Water Projects map for watersheds.)

The remaining 10% of funds go to the County Flood Control District for countywide water quality monitoring, projects for improving water quality, performance oversight and technical assistance to cities and regional collaborations. 

The proposed Ordinance includes the project criteria for determining which projects can be funded.