Los Angeles Officials Propose 'Water Neutral' Ordinance

As Los Angeles County preps for another year of drought, authorities are looking to developers for opportunities to save water.

“Over the objections of business and development groups, the [Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors] voted to have county staff start drafting a ‘net zero’ ordinance that would aim to ensure that new developments do not increase overall regional water demand,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

“A net-zero water ordinance or water-neutral development could be achieved with drought-tolerant landscaping, low-flow plumbing fixtures and water recycling, [an official] said. If projects can’t get to zero on their own, developers could achieve the goal by subsidizing projects to retrofit water use at schools or hospitals,” MyNewsLA reported.

Some communities in California already impose such policies, including Santa Monica, Oxnard and San Luis Obispo County. They are known as “water neutrality” regulations, according to the report.

Environmental groups are praising the effort. Rita Kampalath of Heal the Bay said there is often a "disconnect between water agencies and planning departments” in drought planning.

"Water agencies have been hearing the message of severe water shortages and have had to ask their customers to cut water use as much as possible, while simultaneously watching new development and major projects pop up without any clear accounting for the additional burdens on our already stressed water supply," she said, per the Times.

Developers will also have a chance to weigh in, according to LA Curbed:

The County Supes are also kicking off an outreach campaign to solicit input from stakeholders to compile a water conservation plan for the county that would include things like stormwater capture projects. Three years ago, the supes proposed an initiative that would have created a new parcel tax to fund a drought plan similar to what they're imagining now, and they were met with such strong pushback that they never actually put it on the ballot.

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