Tujunga Spreading Grounds Delivers a Twofer: Doubling Stormwater Capture and Supporting Community Recreation

By Christina Holland

It’s no secret that California is in the midst of a historic drought. It’s also no secret that boosting the local water supply is a key priority within the Department’s Water Resources division. What you may not know is that a 150-acre project called the Tujunga Spreading Grounds expansion helps ensure a sustainable water future for Los Angeles by doubling stormwater capture capacity while creating a community recreation area in the eastern San Fernando Valley.

For thousands of years, rainwater has percolated through the soils in the San Fernando Valley and into the aquifer that serves as an enormous reservoir where water is stored for future use. To keep our local water supply sustainable, spreading grounds are used to refill the groundwater basin.

LADWP collaborated with the Los Angeles County Flood Control District (LACFCD) on the 150-acre project to double the annual groundwater recharge capacity of the San Fernando Groundwater Basin to 16,000 acre-feet on average, with the potential to provide enough water to 64,000 households annually. The team achieved the increased stormwater capture by reconfiguring the 20 original smaller water basins into nine wider and deeper basins.

“During this historic drought, we want our customers to know that we are taking action locally to expand our local drinking water supplies and capture more rainfall to store in our local aquifer. The Tujunga Spreading Grounds expansion project diverts water that would otherwise flow out to the ocean and allows us to capture it and use it for our customers,” said Cynthia McClain-Hill, President of the Board of Water and Power Commissioners. “We also worked with the community to reduce noise and pollution impacts from the project and created a beautiful open space where northeast Valley residents can exercise and spend time outdoors.”

Ordinarily, removing soil from the site to complete the expansion project would have required thousands of truck trips. In response to community concerns and to be more environmentally sensitive to the surrounding neighbors, LADWP used a quiet, zero-emission electric conveyor system to transport soils offsite.

Now that the project is complete, the community can enjoy an outdoor space that includes a walking path, hydration station, picnic tables, educational signage and an outdoor classroom. Further, the project team designed the community space to collect stormwater via porous pavement installed in the parking lot, outdoor classroom and hydration station areas.