Green Streets Projects –A New “Green Way L.A.”

August 2, 2007

Larry SmithExecutive Director

About North East Trees

Founded as a 501c3 in 1990 by Scott Wilson

Mission:To r st r n u eTo restore nature’’s ces i resou c cha l ged communi ies, through a s services in resource challenged communities, through a collaborative resource development, implementation, and stewardscollaborative resource development, implementation, and stewardshiphipprocess.process.

Programs:Urban ForestryUrban ForestryUrban Parks DevelopmentUrban Parks DevelopmentWatershed RehabilitationWatershed RehabilitationYouth Environmental StewardshipYouth Environmental StewardshipCommunity StewardshipCommunity StewardshipInitiatives:C ea i g ommunit One Tree a meCreating Community One Tree at a TimeG e Way L.A.Green Way L.A.

Restoring Nature’s Services – Urban Forestry

•• Urban ForestryUrban Forestry – develops urban forestry solutions for agencies and other organizations within a framework that maximizes the net environmental benefits of the urban forest resource

Project Partner in M l ion r es AMillion Trees LA (MTLA) Campaign through its “Creating Community One Tree at a Time” Initiative

Contractor for Los Angeles Dept. of Water & Power Trees for Green LATrees for Green LA(TFGLA) Project

Restoring Nature’s Services – Urban Parks

•• Urban Parks DevelopmentUrban Parks Development – plans, designs and builds community, neighborhood and river adjacent parks and trails for the purpose of restoring native habitat and creating passive recreation opportunities

• Los Angeles River Bikeway – string of pocket parks along L.A. River

• Steelhead Park

Restoring Nature’s Services – Watershed Rehabilitation

•• Watershed RehabilitationWatershed Rehabilitation – plans, designs and implements watershed improvements with the express purpose of restoring waterways and associated habitat, improving water quality and safely increasing stormwater detention

Specific projects within this program area include

•• OrosOros Green StreetGreen Street

•• Hazard StreamHazard Stream--WetlandWetlandSystem RestorationSystem Restoration

Restoring Nature’s Services – Youth Environmental Stewardship

•• Youth Environmental StewardshipYouth Environmental Stewardship –educates and trains at-risk youth and young adults in environmental disciplines designed to build individual character and to develop a community-based work force to steward restored nature’s services in resource challenged communities

Delivered nearly 25,000 hours of education & training since June 2005

Restoring Nature’s Services – Community Stewardship

•• Community StewardshipCommunity Stewardship – assists communities and neighborhoods in the development of resources, capacity and network links that can steward restored nature’s services in resource challenged communities

Being implemented through Creating Community One Tree Creating Community One Tree at a Timeat a Time Initiative

Creating Community One Tree at a Time

•• Creating Community One Tree At A TimeCreating Community One Tree At A Time – its purpose is to develop youth and community stewards who can develop tree planting projects, and plant and care for trees in their respective resource challenged communities

•• Objectives:Objectives:

Provide meaningful vocational education, training and a path to full time employment within the “Green Industry” for 16-24 year old At-Risk-Youth;

Provide education and training to develop Community Stewards in these same communities who can better assist with the development and management of neighborhood improvement projects

Substantially increase the number of healthy trees in these communities; and

Substantially increase the amount of urban park space in these communities

••Goals for 2008Goals for 2008--2009:2009:Deliver 18,000 hours of education Deliver 18,000 hours of education and training to 48 Youth Stewards;and training to 48 Youth Stewards;Matriculate 80% of these Stewards Matriculate 80% of these Stewards in o u time j binto full time jobs;Distribute up to 15,000 Distribute up to 15,000 –– 5 gallon 5 gallon t ee t m u ity T ee op o trees at Community Tree Adoption Events;Events;P an u t 1 000 Plant up to 15,000 – 15 a n r es 15 gallon trees in parks, streets and other public in parks, streets and other public spacesspaces

Green Way L.A.

•• Green Way L.A.Green Way L.A. –

A frameworkframework for transforming the urban environment through a seemless integration of its four progam areas: Urban Parks Development, Watershed Rehabilitation, Youth Environmental Stewardship and Community Stewardship Programs

TransformationTransformation from compromising “nature’s services” to embracing “nature’s services” as the new paradigm for all urban infrastructure development

Will addadd another layer of u ct on ifunctionality to tree planting, habitat restoration and urban park development by taking the next step of also cleaning and storing stormwater runoff, thereby making all urbaninfrastructure part of the overall solution

•• E eExample -- G EE TREE SGREEN STREETS

Green Streets Discussion

• PurposeTo demonstrate that streets can be transformed to “RESTORE NATURE’S SERVICES” to efficiently provide environmental and other community benefits while continuing to protect the public health, welfare and safety

• FormatCase Study Presentation of

• Oros Green Street Demonstration Project• Method

Provide urban & historical contextProvide an overview of the project objectivesSummarize project process and key decisionsReview project designDiscuss future possibilities for urban areas

Oros Green Street - Overall Project Objectives

• Prove that stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) are compatible with residential / light commercial neighborhoods

Don’t always need large sites / large facilities to provide stormwater treatment.

• Test whether natural BMPs compatible with residential neighborhoods can aid in complying with TMDLs

• Prove that distributed BMPs are a cost-effective opportunity to increase regional treatment capacity

• Begin “testing” City of Los Angeles design standards that currently make BMP implementation difficult

• Disseminate tools, designs, and lessons learned to other parties seeking to employ these technologies in other parts of the city

Project Process

Select Site CompleteDesign

ConstructBMPs

MonitorResults

Site Selection

• Over 40 streets in Elysian Valley and Atwater Village considered for the project.All dead-end along LA River, flow into river through end-of-street culverts or swales.In-person reconnaissance and photo documentation of all streets.

• NET developed site selection criteria that took various factors contributing to project success into account, including:

Size of watershed vs. treatment area availableLand uses along streetTraffic levels / type of trafficPresence of existing high-value / high quality street treesCondition of parkway areas

• Oros Street the highest-ranked street. Key reasons:Residential land use – no industry or industry-related trafficTreatment areas all in public domainFew high-quality street trees

Site Overview

Oros Street

Geographic Location Drainage Area

Setting

Intersection of Blake Avenue and Oros Street

Setting

Looking SW Away From River Towards Interstate 5

Setting

Street-End Culvert, Showing Entrance To Steelhead Park

Setting

Steelhead Park

Typical Rainy Day Along Oros Street

Water Quality Issues In the Project Area

Parameter Water Quality Objective Storm 1 Storm 2

Copper LA River TMDL X X

Lead LA River TMDL X

Zinc LA River TMDL X X

E.coli Basin Plan X X

Enterococcus Basin Plan X X

Fecal Coliform Basin Plan X X

Total Coliform Basin Plan X X

Water Quality Objective Exceedences, February 2006 Storms

Pollutant Concentrations Highest At Beginning Of Storm, Fall Off Well Short of 0.75” of Rainfall

Bacteria and Cumulative Rainfall vs. Time

0.00

500.00

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2500.00

3000.00

0:00 0:28 0:57 1:26 1:55 2:24 2:52 3:21 3:50 4:19

Time From Storm Beginning

MPN/100mL

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Inches

E. Coli Fecal Coliform Cumulative Rainfall

Metals and Cumulative Rainfall vs. Time

0.00

50.00

100.00

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0:00 0:28 0:57 1:26 1:55 2:24 2:52 3:21 3:50 4:19

Time From Storm Beginning

ug/L

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Inches

Copper Lead Zinc Cumulative Rainfall

Pollutant Concentrations Highest At Beginning Of Storm, Fall Off Well Short of 0.75” of Rainfall

LAR TMDL Limits:Copper: 17 ug/lLead: 62 ug/lZinc: 159 ug/l

Design Summary

Summary Statistics

Total runoff produced by a 0.75" storm event: 5,200 cubic feetTotal number of lots draining to Oros Street: 17

Parkway Treatment - Stormwater GardensTreatment volume per linear foot of stormwater garden: 21 cubic feetTotal proposed number of lot-length stormwater gardens: 5 unitsTotal linear feet of stormwater gardens 135 feetTotal stormwater garden treatment capacity 2,822 cubic feetTotal number of lots draining into stormwater gardens: 7 lotsTotal estimated runoff from lots (per 3/4" storm): 1,806 cubic feet

Safety factor (capacity above required volume) 36%

Infiltration Trench TreatmentRemaining runoff not captured by stormwater gardens 3,394 cubic feetCapacity of Steelhead Park infiltration trench 4,325 cubic feet

Safety factor (capacity above required volume) 22%

Overall Summary% Runoff treated in stormwater gardens 35%% Runoff treated in infiltration trench 65%

Plan View of Entire Street

Typical Bioretention Design

Conceptual Design of Stormwater Garden

Conceptual and Engineering Design of Stormwater Garden

What is a Green Street and How Does it Work?

1. Rain2. Stormwater flows down driveway into trench

drain3. Stormwater is collected in trench drain and flows

into stormwater garden in adjacent parkway4. Stormwater flows into perforated pipe in

stormwater garden where it percolates downward through surrounding gravel and soil

5. Stormwater flowing into stormwater garden is absorbed through tree roots into tree – some is stored in tree and some “evapo-transpires” back into the atmosphere

A. Stormwater that makes its way to the street flows down the gutter to catch basins on both sides of the street

B. Stormwater enters the catch basin where sediment, debris, grease and oil is filtered out

C. Filtered stormwater continues through pipes into the park where it enters an infiltration “gallery” consisting of perforated pipe, sand, gravel and soil

D. Water gets further filtered as it percolates downward through the perforated pipe, gravel, sand and soil

Drawing of Post-Project Oros Streetscape

Project Timeline

• Project Planning & Design Begins in June 2005• Design completed mid-2006• Construction completed June, 2007

• Via same partnership between NET, City of LA Bureau of Street Services• Other key partners include:

• Board of Public Works• City Attorney’s Office• Bureau of Street Services Urban Forestry Division• Bureau of Sanitation• Trees for a Green LA, an LADWP Program

Lessons Learned

• Non-standard “Green Infrastructure” applications/projects require creative collaborative project partners process

• Community Outreach must be very “fine-grained” – literally door to door conversations – “afternoon teas”

• All stakeholders have to “win” and take ownership

• Thorough site analysis matters

• Political leadership and support imperative

Future Opportunities & Challenges

• Funding must be private-public partnership

• Continue to value engineer to reduce unit costs

• Two key questions govern rollout elsewhere:

Are parkways large enough to provide adequate treatment?

Are soils permeable enough to allow for infiltration?

• Need to do prototype projects within a representative cross-section of environments to develop comprehensive “tool kit” that will allow Green Street Standards to be development by Public Works

• Need to continue to establish performance metrics

Contact Information

Larry Smith, Executive Director570 W. Avenue 26, Suite 200

Los Angeles, CA 90065Ph: 323/441-8634

E-mail: larry@northeasttrees.orgWebsite: www.northeasttrees.org