ESA’s Tom Barnes, Southern California Water Resources Director, co-authored a story in the Urban Water Institute’s latest newsletter with Jodie Lanza, PE, Supervising Engineer for Los Angeles County Sanitation District.

In it, Tom and Jodie share their findings from a collaborative study of the potential issues from diverting surface water away from local stream systems to instead be used to supply new recycled water projects.

Balancing the health of riparian ecosystems with the need for recycled water resources for the region is critical, especially as California enters another drought year. Working closely with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County developed a solution within the San Gabriel River Watershed that improves riparian health while increasing the use of recycled water and reducing the region’s dependence on imported water supplies.

Read more about their findings in this issue of the UWI newsletter, and reach out to Tom Barnes if you would like to learn more.