Designing new approaches to combat the regional and local problem of harnessing urban runoff that seeps into watersheds will require hard work on a multiple governmental level, says Culver City Manager John Nachbar.
The cost is also likely to be substantial.
“This is something that I really think the public should know about,” Nachbar told the News in a recent interview. “(Controlling) stormwater pollution is going to require a major operating expense.”
County water quality authorities sought to assist municipalities that will eventually be saddled with expenditures regarding urban runoff through a proposed special election that would ask county voters through a parcel tax to pay an additional $54 a year.
County officials estimated the measure, called Clean Water, Clean Beaches, would raise $290 million, which would be used to create local water-saving programs as well as creating regional watershed authorities.
The court Board of Supervisors voted in January not to hold a special election, citing concerns from school districts and some property owners. County Supervisor Don Kanbe, who represents Marina del Rey, said he would prefer to see the proposal as a ballot initiative instead, perhaps in June or November of 2014.
Nachbar says state and federal clean water regulations are quite stringent and if Culver City, as well as other cities, does not devise their own internal plans the long-term price could be quite painful financially.
“The day could come when we’re subjected to heavy fines,” he cautioned.
Nachbar said Culver City’s council has been briefed about Clean Water, Clean Beaches.
Culver City Public Works Director Charles Herbertson agrees that the costs to bring the city’s infrastructure up to date as it pertains to water capture and filtering will not be inexpensive. “It will require a significant financial investment,” he said.
Herbertson said his team has taken certain steps to comply with state mandates and have begun to install catch basins to sewer grates, but much more will be required in order to prevent more runoff from entering nearby Ballona Creek, one of the region’s largest watersheds.
“Right now, we don’t have the technological solutions that we would like to have,” he acknowledged.
Both Nachbar and Herbertson viewed the Clean Water, Clean Beaches proposal as a plan that could begin to alleviate some of the urban pollution problems but understand that there were concerns form certain cities as well as some of the supervisors about the proposed initiative.
The city manager thinks one reason why the supervisors delayed the measure could have been what they perceived to be a lack of clarity on some of the initiatives.
“There were some projects that were not clearly identified, and I think that made some people cautious,” Nachbar recalled.
Neighboring cities have been proactive in asking their residents to pay more in order to combat urban water pollution. In Santa Monica, property owners are assessed two fees: a stormwater user fee as well as a Clean Beaches and Oceans levy.
These fees are assessed through property taxes and generate approximately $3.9 million a year (2009-10). While the Stormwater User Fee is a flat fee year to year, the Clean Beaches & Ocean Parcel Tax is tied to the Consumer Price Index and adjusts accordingly.
Revenues from these fees support the city’s watershed management program and the city’s obligation to comply with federal and state Clean Water Act regulations, efforts which protect water quality and protect human life.
Nachbar said Culver City will soon have to devise its own strategy-like Santa Monica has- on stormwater runoff pollution, regardless of whether the approach is regional or local.
“It’s our responsibility,” the city manager concluded. “I’m pretty confident that we will be working on this for years.”