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Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) for Stormwater Management in the City of Los Angeles: Avalon Green Alleys Network

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Abstract

Stormwater runoff creates flooding/pollution hazards in urban areas and Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) provides modern technologies for prevention and mitigation. The Avalon Green Alley Network North and South GSI Demonstration Project (The GSIs) described in this article is a joint partnership between Los Angeles Sanitation (LASAN) and The Trust for Public Land (TPL). The GSIs is located in public alley right-of-way in a high-density neighborhood (residential, schools, parks, commercial building). The GSIs slows and infiltrates stormwater on site, capturing runoff from intersecting street catch basins, employing dry-well chambers, replacing impervious/conventional asphalt with permeable surfaces, percolating stormwater, and providing underground storage. The GSIs north section is closed to vehicular traffic after construction of a grassy swale to capture stormwater. Stormwater drains toward interlocking pavers and into underground infiltration trenches, with extra flows conveyed to a dry-well system. Monitoring includes groundwater monitoring wells, flow meters, and water-level loggers (measure water quality/quantity). Further benefits for the community includes of growing of vines/espalier trees, artistic paving, and mural artwork evoking artistic expression. The GSIs approach is setting a new trend for stormwater management in the City of Los Angeles in the untapped 1440 km of alleys, and serves as a model of community development through stormwater management to other cities.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the many employees of the City, especially those from the Watershed Protection Division of the LASAN. In addition, authors are grateful to The Trust for Public Land, the Council for Watershed Health, the Coalition for Responsible Community Development, and the Los Angeles Conservation Corps. Author’s gratitude is extended to all those individuals from governmental and private agencies who have contributed to stormwater control in the Avalon Green Alley Network. Funding for this GSIs has been provided in full or in part through an agreement with the California State Water Resource Control Board. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the California State Water Resources Control Board, nor does the citation of the trade names or commercial products implies or recommends their use.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Watershed Protection Division, LA Sanitation, City of Los Angeles, 1149 South Broadway, California, Los Angeles, 90015, USA

    K. Majid Sadeghi, Shahram Kharaghani & Wing Tam

  2. Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, 93106, USA

    K. Majid Sadeghi

  3. Orange County Parks, 13042 Old Myford Road, Irvine, CA, 92602, USA

    Natalia Gaerlan

  4. Formally at The Trust for Public Land, 135 W. Green Street, Pasadena, CA, 91105, USA

    Natalia Gaerlan

  5. Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, 93106, USA

    Hugo Loáiciga

Authors
  1. K. Majid Sadeghi
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  2. Shahram Kharaghani
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  3. Wing Tam
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  4. Natalia Gaerlan
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  5. Hugo Loáiciga
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Correspondence to K. Majid Sadeghi.

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Additional supporting information is found online under the Supporting Material tab for this article. The Supporting Material presents detail Avalon Alley GSI characteristics and monitoring procedures used in the manuscript and pictures of the site conditions. (DOCX 28992 kb)

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Sadeghi, K.M., Kharaghani, S., Tam, W. et al. Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) for Stormwater Management in the City of Los Angeles: Avalon Green Alleys Network. Environ. Process. 6, 265–281 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40710-019-00364-z

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