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Implementation Update March 2025

The Safe, Clean Water Program funds stormwater initiatives that improve water quality, increase our local water supply, and provide community benefits, like green spaces and parks. The program cultivates regional and community partnerships and prioritizes historically underserved communities.  

This newsletter provides important updates designed to help you stay informed and engaged. For further information on regional proposals, including those that are funded or under consideration, please visit the projects webpage. 

Your input and feedback are crucial to the collaborative, effective, and adaptive management of the SCW Program. Please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Key Dates to Know:

Public Education and Community Engagement Grants Program – UPDATED FINAL DEADLINE! 

The LA County Flood Control District is partnering with the Water Foundation to administer the SCW Program Public Education and Community Engagement Grants Program. The program will support education and community engagement efforts related to stormwater and urban runoff capture within the LA County Flood Control District. Round 1 has approved 15 grant proposals for a total of approximately $3.1M in grant funding, leaving about $5.3M left for the remaining rounds. The Water Foundation has received a high volume of strong applications for Round 2 and anticipate the same for Round 3.

Given the level of interest in this program and the amount of funding still available, the final deadline to submit a grant application will be April 4, 2025.

For more information and to submit an application, visit the Water Foundation’s website. We encourage all eligible parties to apply for funding!

Project Highlight

Merced Avenue Greenway

Merced Avenue Greenway (Phase I – South Residential Corridor), located in the Rio Hondo Watershed, celebrated its grand opening on March 1, 2025. This 0.65-mile Project enhances mobility in the area and creates a greener, safer, and more resilient community. The Project also includes porous concrete and bio-infiltration planters, which help manage stormwater runoff and improve water quality. These elements enable the Project to capture and treat an average of 21.5 acre-feet of stormwater annually, while infiltrating an estimated 6.47 acre-feet each year. The Project also removed over 30,000 square feet of asphalt, introduced 3,000 native plants and 133 new trees that help reduce urban heat and support local biodiversity.

Adaptive Management

Watershed Planning

Watershed Planning will result in development of Initial Watershed Plans for each of the nine SCW Program Watershed Areas, and will include specific targets, priorities, and strategies for each Watershed Area that will inform future investments and maximize progress toward achieving the goals of the SCW Program. The Initial Watershed Plans will identify prioritized Watershed Area needs and the most promising opportunities for impactful investments, while aligning with the Countywide vision to create sustainable, equitable water solutions. Initial Watershed Plans will be published in early 2026.

The SCW Program Watershed Planning team will begin Phase 3 Watershed Area Steering Committee (WASC) engagements in April. The draft Initial Watershed Plans for each Watershed Area will be released for a 30-day public review period in late summer 2025. The Watershed Planning team will return to the WASC and Regional Oversight Committee (ROC) in the fall to present and discuss the draft Initial Watershed Plans prior to publishing the final Initial Watershed Plans in early 2026.

The Community Strengths & Needs Assessment (CSNA) Dashboard has launched and visually showcases CSNA Survey results and response trends for local communities. The CSNA Dashboard can be found on the SCW Program website’s Adaptive Management page.

For questions regarding the ongoing Watershed Planning efforts, please email WatershedPlanning@pw.lacounty.gov.         

Regional Oversight Committee

The ROC conducts regular meetings on the 2nd Wednesday of each month. The next ROC meeting is scheduled for March 12th. The meeting will be dedicated to receiving public input about the development of the 2025 Safe, Clean Water Program Progress Report (Biennial Report). To gather public input, an extended public comment period is scheduled, allowing speakers up to five minutes each to share their comments.

Written material can be submitted as attachments to a public comment card, found here: Comment Card Form. Participants are encouraged to email Comment Card Forms to SafeCleanWaterLA@pw.lacounty.gov by at least 5:00 pm the day prior to the meeting. Additionally, the public can provide comments on the day of the meeting, both in-person and online.

Of primary interest to the ROC are the public’s answers and insights to the following questions:

1 – How have you seen the Safe, Clean Water Program achieving its goals in the past two years?

2 – How do you hope the Safe, Clean Water Program can improve in the coming two years?

3 – What do you feel are the most important improvements over the long term that will help Safe, Clean Water Program be successful and achieve its goals?

Upcoming meeting details will be posted on the ROC events webpage as they become available.

Please also save the date for all remaining ROC meetings related to the 2025 Biennial Report:

  • Data Review Meeting: April 9, 2025, 1:00-4:00 pm – Present/discuss reports and data to date and the Biennial Report outline and process
  • Draft Report Meeting 1: September 10, 2025, 1:00-4:00 pm – Discuss the draft 2025 Biennial Report
  • Draft Report Meeting 2: October 8, 2025, 1:00-4:00 pm – Present the draft 2025 Biennial Report and initiate 30-day Public Comment Period
  • Final Report Meeting: December 10, 2025, 1:00-4:00 pm – Approve final 2025 Biennial Report to submit to County Board of Supervisors

The ROC members are looking to host their meetings at various locations across Los Angeles County. If your agency or municipality is interested in hosting a meeting, please contact the Regional Oversight Committee Executive Clerk at SCWP_ROC_ExecClerk@pw.lacounty.gov to discuss the logistics.

Regional Program

Stormwater Investment Plan Programming Guidelines

As Public Works continues to implement adaptive management practices and involve the governance committees in the iterative and robust decision-making process, guidelines have been developed to help interpret the Los Angeles Flood Control District Code and support the Watershed Area Steering Committees in reviewing and recommending Projects, Project Concepts, and Studies. The Regional Program Stormwater Investment Plan (SIP) Programming Guidelines include, but are not limited to, guidance in complying with the SIP criteria and financial recommendations for programming the current SIP year. You can find the guidelines on the SCW Program website under Adaptive Management.

Reporting Timeline

The Regional Program Reporting Timeline has transitioned from quarterly to semi-annual submittals. Project and Scientific Study Developers are required to submit Quarterly Reports up to FY23-24, and Mid-Year Reports starting FY24-25.

Please note the following due dates for recent and upcoming Regional Program Reports:

  • FY24-25 Mid-Year Report (covering expenditures and progress between July 2024 and December 2024) was due on February 15, 2025. The deadline was extended to February 28, 2025.
  • FY24-25 Annual Report (covering expenditures and progress between July 2024 and June 2025) is due on August 15, 2025.

The new Metrics & Measures section is now available as a new tile in the Regional Program Reporting Module. The Metrics & Measures section collects data for metrics specific to Projects in planning, design, construction, and post-construction phases to align with and inform the Watershed Planning efforts and Program-wide progress assessments. Project Developers with Projects in the planning phase should provide data that predicts Project performance, while those in design, construction, or post-construction should provide data that reflects their Project’s design or implementation.

The deadline to fill out the Metrics & Measures section was February 28, 2025. For those that missed the deadline, an email was sent last week to fill out the Metrics & Measures section as soon as possible.

Municipal Program

Renewal of Municipal Transfer Agreements

The SCW Program recently updated the Reporting Module to streamline the renewal process for Municipal Transfer Agreements (TAs).

Fifth (FY24-25) Municipal Disbursement

The first FY24-25 Annual disbursements (local return for year 5) were completed in December 2024 and February 2025 for municipalities that met all eligibility requirements (52 cities have collectively received just over $70M in local return).

Annual Municipal Program local return disbursements are being processed once the municipality has met all eligibility requirements.

Annual Plans

The Safe Clean Water Municipal Program FY25-26 Annual Plans are due April 1, 2025. Municipalities can use the Reporting Module Municipal Program tile to submit their corresponding Annual Plans.

District Program

Credit Trading Program

The Credit Trading Program will allow eligible parcels to generate/sell or purchase credits to be used towards the purchasing parcel’s Safe Clean Water assessment. The Procedures and Guidelines document has been approved and can be viewed HERE. The Safe, Clean Water Program is continuing implementation of the Credit Trading Program and anticipates to begin accepting applications to generate/sell credits in Summer 2025.

For more information on the Credit Trading Program, please refer to: Tax Information, Forms & Tools.

Low-Income Senior-Owned Exemptions

The SCW Program is still accepting Low-Income Senior-Owned Exemption Forms for FY25-26. Applications must be mailed or dropped off in person by May 1, 2025. Application forms and more information can be found at: Tax Information, Forms & Tools.

General Income-Based Tax Reductions

The SCW Program is still accepting General Income-Based Tax Reduction Forms for FY25-26. Applications must be mailed or dropped off in person by May 1, 2025. Application forms and more information can be found at: Tax Information, Forms & Tools.

Interested in tracking the Safe, Clean Water Program Watershed Coordination events happening in your community? Check out the new website calendar feature to find events near you.

Your input and feedback are crucial to the collaborative, effective, and adaptive management of the SCW Program. Please do not hesitate to contact us.