Arroyo Seco Woodland & Wildlife Park
South Pasadena Nature Park
FEATURED PROJECT
The Making of a Micro-Forest
The Water Reuse Project
DEIR Comment Period Is Over. Now What?
Many of you have been following the events surrounding the Pasadena/South Pasadena Arroyo Seco Water Reuse Project. The comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Report ended on August 1st. Thank you to everyone who submitted comments.
As I understand it, the City of Pasadena, lead on the Project, must now review and respond to every comment. There were hundreds of comment letters so this will take some time. Pasadena may then either revise the Project or the EIR. I highly doubt the Project will be revised since, in my opinion, Pasadena did not make a good faith effort to consider project alternatives as required by the EIR process. My guess is that they will make superficial changes and push through the original project.
Problems With Pushing It Through As It Stands
However, there are some major problems with this approach. First, it can be argued that the Project has changed significantly from what was originally submitted when the funding agencies indicated that they would provide money for construction. The Safe, Clean Water Program may conclude that the Project does not offer the infiltration benefits or wet weather stormwater treatment promised in the original plans.
Read More
There may also be permitting problems now that it has been brought out into the open that water diversion, downstream flow, groundwater recharge, wet weather water quality, and even risks to the channel have not been fully and accurately presented.
If Pasadena continues to promote the Project without significant changes, another lawsuit may be possible. There are strong grounds for arguing that the City did not conduct the EIR process in good faith. Save San Pascual Park continues to monitor what is going on and is keeping open the possibility of enlisting additional legal support. (If you want to help, please consider making a donation.)
Water Quality Control Board States Project Will Not Meet Water Quality Standards
The comment letter submitted by the LA Regional Water Quality Control Board (LA-RWQCB) presents another significant problem for the Project.
Quoting from the Water Board letter:
“[T]he Project has evolved over time since the original approval of the WMP and LRS in 2015.” It now only captures and treats dry weather flow, no longer handling stormwater runoff, and so “it will not assist in compliance with the TMDL in wet weather…
“In conclusion, the Project is not required by the TMDL or the MS4 Permit, it will not help comply with the TMDL in wet weather, and it will only help comply with the TMDL in dry weather below the diversion point in San Rafael Creek.”
Despite this serious comment, newspapers and Project advocates continue to make the argument that if the Project does not go through the City will be liable for significant fines from the State. Sounds like they may be liable for these fines either way since the Project no longer shows a good faith effort to address storm water pollution.
If Not This Then What?
I could go on – as I have in the past – but I want to address one more issue. I have read and heard people say: Since this project has gotten funding, isn’t it better to go ahead and gain some water quality improvements, rather than either starting over or having nothing?
Although too much money and time has been spent on this terrible project already, that is not a good reason to keep going. As the saying goes, if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
The best outcome of what was a tremendous waste of time and resources is to review what happened so that we can figure out what when wrong and how to correct it. Clearly, there was a failure of oversight by the funding agencies. The very fact that this project would have been pushed through if not for the lawsuit filed by Clara Solis of Save San Pascual Park speaks loudly. Every time I think about how Pasadena submitted a Mitigated Negative Declaration for a project that has overwhelming negative impacts to the environment, I… well I just shake my head. Something went wrong, very wrong!
What Next?
If the Project is stopped, then our work just begins. We need to organize our communities – LA, Pasadena, South Pasadena, and Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians – Kizh Nation – to work with officials who have both the funding and means to develop and implement a truly nature-based project. Unlike the Water Reuse Project that relied heavily on infrastructure engineers, we need to involve the scientific community in this work. Biologists, ecologists, river restoration experts, fish experts, and experts from the indigenous community, among others, must be included from the start. We need to involve non-profits and others who have been promoting Arroyo Seco restoration efforts for decades. This truly could be an example of how we can take back our rivers and streams. This location, that Jane Tsong of LA Creek Freak thought might be a relic of the pre-channelized Arroyo Seco, could be the place that the Arroyo Seco begins to break out of its concrete prison.
Why We Oppose the Project
The Project is principally unchanged from the one put forth in the MND. The Alternatives include “the same man-made wetland BMPs as the Project” but placed on land that is not in the City of Los Angeles. Both have the same faults as the original project that are noted below. The alternatives do not include a true wetlands restoration option, they will result in the loss of the existing wetland, and there has been no effort to involve the community, especially Los Angeles residents and indigenous people, as required by the EIR process.
Destruction of Riparian Habitat
This project would destroy something irreplaceable—bulldozers poised to obliterate a century-old riparian oasis that has thrived in South Pasadena for generations. The living ecosystem, with its mature native trees sheltering birds, frogs, and fish, faces complete destruction. Where cool shade and flowing water now sustain life, the project would impose sterile concrete infrastructure, burying forever this rare surviving fragment of natural Los Angeles.
Better Solutions
Friends of South Pasadena Nature Park and other environmental advocates strongly oppose this destruction, seeking alternatives that could achieve water purification and reuse goals while restoring, not destroying, the Arroyo Seco ecosystem.
We Can Do Better!
Please educate yourself on this project and be prepared to comment when we’re brought back into the process. This will move quickly once the report is completed. Unless we change the nature of this project to include habitat preservation and restoration for the project sites and the Arroyo Seco more broadly, we will see more destruction and buried concrete. We can do better!
GROWTH OF A NATURE PARK
You mean there is a nature park in South Pasadena?
-
Nature Park Volunteer Day (Sept)
Read more: Nature Park Volunteer Day (Sept)9/19/26 – Don’t miss the micro-forest monitoring workshop being held…
VISIT
Arroyo Seco Woodland & Wildlife Park
100 block of Pasadena Ave, South Pasadena, CA (Arroyo Woodland & Wildlife Nature Park on Apple Maps)
The South Pas Nature Park (officially the Arroyo Seco Woodland and Wildlife Park) is located adjacent to the Arroyo Seco channel in South Pasadena, east of the York Blvd. Bridge. The park is always open. Locals enjoy walking, jogging and horseback riding through the park.
Below: Lower entrance can be reached by walking west on the recreational path from the Golf Course club house.
HELP OUT
Friends of South Pasadena Nature Park
In 2006, Friends of South Pasadena Nature Park was created as a community stewardship group. Join us on Saturdays (usually the third Saturday of the month – with no cleanups in July, August and December) to plant, remove weeds and litter, build paths, and enjoy the park. Come for the whole time, for an hour, or just stop by to say hello!
WHO: Everyone is welcome. Children must be under adult supervision at all times.
WHEN: The third Saturday of the month (except July, August and December), 9-noon
WHERE: South Pas Nature Park, 100 block of Pasadena Ave, east of York Blvd Bridge. Street parking is available on Pasadena Ave for the upper entrance, and in the parking lots near the golf course by the lower entrance. Meet in the park near the lower entrance, next to the recreational path.