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March 2025

TOP STORIES

SBCCOG and SoCalREN Joint Endeavor for

Facility Equipment Inventory (FEI) Initiative

Valero receives award for Innovative Use of Recycled Water

General Assembly

This year’s program marks the 30th anniversary of the SBCCOG and will explore progress made as well as chart a path ahead to address challenges in sustainability, housing, homelessness, and transportation. The challenges in sustainability and resilience. The community, as well as county, state, and federal legislators representing the South Bay, will be in attendance.

Attendance and lunch at the event are free thanks to SBCCOG’s generous sponsors.

For more information and to register to attend our event, visit our 2025 General Assembly site here.

JOIN WRD FOR THEIR NEXT FACILITY TOUR

WRD offers a variety of engaging tours that teach about water recycling, groundwater replenishment and basin management. On their next tour, WRD is offering online and in-person tours of its flagship facility, the Albert Robles Center for Water Recycling and Environmental Learning (ARC).

ARC Public Tours offers the chance to see the full ARC facility including the fully digital learning center and water-efficient demonstration gardens. Tours are free to attend and fun for the whole family, however registration is required. Please register to attend any of their tours below.

SBCCOG and SoCalREN Joint Endeavor for

Facility Equipment Inventory (FEI) Initiative

The Facility Equipment Inventory (FEI) Initiative is a joint endeavor between SoCalREN (Southern California Regional Energy Network), SBCCOG, and the diverse communities of the South Bay subregion of Los Angeles County. The FEI experience is customized to highlight facility data and project opportunities that align with each agency’s specific needs and interests.

FEI has been such a resounding success that two additional SoCalREN regional partners - the councils of governments of San Gabriel and Gateway will be implementing the same program.

The SBCCOG created a formal Program Implementation Plan featuring best practices for site visits, how to populate workbooks, and a training video. These materials will created a foundation for FEI to expand and empower agencies across California!

Learn more and talk to our team at our upcoming General Assembly, March 27th!

LADWP Honors Valero Wilmington Refinery for Innovative Use of Recycled Water with 2024 Recycled Water Customer of the Year Award

On February 28, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) honored the Valero Wilmington Refinery with the 2024 Recycled Water Customer of the Year Award for adopting the use of Advanced Treated Recycled Water (ATRW) in its industrial operations.

The refinery’s use of ATRW in its four industrial cooling towers – crucial for cooling various chemical processes – is anticipated to save an impressive 300 million gallons of water annually. This saving will help meet the water needs of 12,000 Angelenos each year. The ATRW used for the cooling towers is supplied by the Terminal Island Water Reclamation Plant, a facility in the Harbor Gateway area, owned and operated by the Los Angeles Department of Public Works, Bureau of Sanitation, which treats wastewater to high standards suitable for industrial use.

More information about LADWP’s Recycled Water can be found at www.ladwp.com/recycledwater.

Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts Launches

Clean Water Works Education Foundation

Rain or shine - it's Earth Day time! We hope you will attend a fun-filled day to learn how you too can help protect the environment.

LA Sanitation Districts Earth Day festival is on Saturday, April 12 from 10 AM to 2 PM at their main offices in Whittier:

Sanitation Districts' Joint Administration Office

1955 Workman Mill Road

Whittier, CA 90601

For more information, contact Maria Rosales-Ramirez at (562) 908-4288 x 2311 or mrosales@lacsd.org.

California's Ban on Non-Functional Turf

In October 2023, Governor Newsom signed into law AB 1572, legislation that bans the use of potable water on non-functional turf on Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional properties. The policy defines “functional turf” as turf located in a recreational use area or community space.

The policy takes effect in phases beginning in 2027, and includes the following subject properties:

- 2027: State-owned properties, local governments, and public agencies

- 2028: Commercial, industrial, and institutional properties

- 2029: Homeowners Associations (HOAs), common interest developments, and community service organizations

- 2031 (or when state funding is made available, whichever is later):

Government properties located in disadvantaged communities

~ Links to rebates and incentives below ~

Link

About the Program

Link

Turf Replacement Assistance

Link

CII Checklist

Shaping the future with clean renewable hydrogen

Angeles Link is a proposed pipeline system that would transport clean renewable hydrogen from third-party production and storage sites to hard-to-electrify sectors across Central and Southern California, including transportation, power generation, and industry.

SoCalGas filed an application with the California Public Utilities Commission in December 2024 to advance Angeles Link to Phase 2, which includes selecting a preferred route, additional engineering and design work, and expanding stakeholder engagement. To learn more about Angeles Link, visit the SoCalGas Innovation Center: Angeles Link page.

LA Metro Kicks Off 2025

with Continued Ridership Growth

January year-over-year ridership climbs 5%; weekend ridership continues to exceed pre-pandemic levels

L.A. Metro celebrated its 26th consecutive month of year-over-year ridership growth in January with 25,358,363 boardings. The combined bus and rail ridership reached 82.9% of its 2019 pre-pandemic ridership level. Metro’s average weekday boardings reached 80.7% of 2019 pre-pandemic levels and on the weekends, ridership attained 93.1% of its pre-pandemic level.

Stay informed by following Metro on The Source and El Pasajero at metro.net, facebook.com/losangelesmetro, x.com/metrolosangeles, x.com/metroLAalerts and instagram.com/metrolosangeles.

March 2025 Events and Workshops

Visit our booth at these upcoming South Bay events

where we will be providing information about local water- and energy-saving programs, and other opportunities to help the residents of our subregion.

Upcoming SBCCOG Outreach Events

Gardena Spring Equinox

Saturday, March 22, 2025

9:00 am - noon

Willows Wetland Preserve

1200 W. 170th Street

Gardena, CA 90247

West Basin's - Know your H20

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility

1935 S. Hughes Way, El Segundo, CA 90245

SBCCOG's General Assembly

Thursday, March 27, 2025

9:00 am - 3:00 pm

801 Carson Street

Carson, 90745

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR SBCCOG CALENDAR

SBCCOG's Rebate Center

Link

SoCal Water $mart Rebates

Job Opportunities

Los Angeles Sanitation Districts (LACSD) is offering work opportunities that keep people safe, protect the environment and provide opportunities for professional growth.

For a full lists of LACSD job openings visit their career page here.

The LADWP is an excellent place to work with competitive pay, excellent benefits and many opportunities for professional and personal growth.

Join the team in a position that helps sustain critical services to the City of Los Angeles.

For a full lists of LADWP job openings visit their career page here.

Metro is seeking qualified candidates to join one of the nation’s largest and most innovative transportation systems.

For a full lists of Metro job openings visit their career page here .

Apply to be a Volunteer with SBESC

To learn more about

the South Bay Environmental Service Center (SBESC),

click here .

Contact Martha Segovia

310-371-7222 or

martha@southbaycities.org

Learn About the South Bay Subregion and SBCCOG Member Cities

Links to Partner Resources En Español:

Metro - "El Pasajero "

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Disclaimer

This newsletter is a collaboration of articles written by the partners of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) and is published as provided.