According to the City Manager Oliver Chi’s update, the LA Regional Water Board unanimously and emphatically approved Monrovia’s region’s Revised Enhanced Watershed Management Program (rEWMP) plan. This approval is the result of more than three years of hard work by numerous people of the community and entities.
The City has been working collaboratively with regional municipal partners, with environmental NGO groups, and with State regulators in an attempt to develop an effective, efficient and achievable stormwater management plan.
Chi claims driving forces behind this intensive multi-year planning effort the cost of the original stormwater program was estimated to be $1.4 billion to implement.
After extensive study, analysis, and coordination, the LA Regional Water Board voted to approve the City’s rEWMP.
Planners worked to optimize stormwater projects to minimize cost / size and increase efficiency for capturing stormwater pollutants while still being able to achieve compliance, and reduce costs.
The updated plan is claimed to have reduced the 436 miles of green streets from the original program now including only 19 miles of green streets and four main regional projects.
There are so many individuals who played a key role in helping the City achieve this result such as Council Member Gloria Crudgington. She worked with others to find a way to achieve clean stormwater, but in a fiscally responsible way.
Numerous individuals from the NGO community and Water Board Members made it a point to distinguish the approach that Council Member Crudgington took in pursuit of achieving clean water.
With the plan approved, the City’s efforts will now turn towards implementing the various elements of the program to ensure that the projects identified in the approved rEMWP are carried out.
Moving ahead, the issues related to stormwater will be the construction mitigation activities.
A full copy of the rEWMP plan can be accessed online.
