The city will host an online community meeting Wednesday evening to discuss plans for a stormwater capture project in East Long Beach that would use large storage ponds to help filter out pollutants from local waterways.
The project site, near the Long Beach Water Reclamation Plant, is just across Willow Street from the El Dorado Nature Center, tucked into the triangle formed by the San Gabriel River and Coyote Creek.
If the project moves forward, it would build five ponds that would hold over 3.5 million gallons of water and create new recreation space in the form of walking trails that could be connected to the nature center through a tunnel under Willow Street, according to the project plans.
The pools would capture and treat stormwater before it’s discharged into Coyote Creek, which connects to the San Gabriel River before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. Long Beach is looking at building a similar project at the Skylinks at Long Beach golf course to treat stormwater.
The ponds would not only filter out pollutants but could also serve as a source of irrigation for El Dorado Park.
The design phase of the project is not complete and the city expects that to be finalized by the fall. It’s also looking at the feasibility of fusing the neighboring water reclamation plant to treat the stormwater before it’s sent back out to the creek.
Funding for the design of the project is coming from the countywide Measure W tax, which was passed by voters to invest in clean water infrastructure.
The online meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 28, where the project is expected to be discussed in more detail. You can register for the meeting here.
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