"After a series of storms drenched the region with a record 9.4 inches of rain in December, the Los Angeles River became a roiling, violent torrent in its concrete channel, before finally spilling into the Pacific Ocean.
The storms transported an estimated 29.5 billion gallons of fresh water into Long Beach Harbor — 62% more water than the nation’s largest desalination plant in San Diego produces in an entire year. It was enough to supply as many as 181,000 families annually.
In 2018, L.A. County voters said they wanted to stop squandering this resource when they approved a massive tax aimed at two main objectives: cleaning up storm water that contaminates the nearby coast and capturing more of it before it reaches the ocean. As prolonged droughts threaten supplies from distance sources, the vote reflected a recognition that every drop of local water is valuable and should not be wasted.
Yet even after selling voters on the urgent need to build storm water projects, the county has disbursed only $95.5 million for projects out of $556 million collected, and actual construction has lagged well behind the money disbursed, a Times review has found. County officials say it could take half a century to complete the work, even though the county needs additional water supplies now, as droughts intensify with climate change."
Ralph Vartabedian reports for the Los Angeles Times March 4, 2022.
SEE ALSO:
"Why We Turned the L.A. River Into a Freeway (for Water)" (Los Angeles Times)
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