Mark VanderSchaaf Pando Days Water Spotlight: 2024-25
The CSO Taskforce recently published a new report by noted regional planner Mark VanderSchaaf that outlines Los Angeles County’s efforts to address water sustainability issues, and the work being done by various agencies in the region in support of the goals. The report offers an important framework for any student or working professional to understand how the region is planning for and engaging with water sustainability challenges. The publication corresponds with the spotlight on water of the Pando Days 2024/25 season. Download here free of charge. Below is an excerpt from the introduction.
“Water is Life” is a phrase that is increasingly invoked by people who care about water sustainability plans. It is now the name of a nonprofit organization (WATERisLIFE) that delivers drinking water and sanitation solutions to communities in dire need, mostly in Latin America and Africa. In this country it is the name of an annual festival in Petosky, Michigan that “celebrates our connection to the water and builds power through community so we can work towards living in a holistic way with the water and protect it from those who seek to exploit or endanger it.” Indigenous communities provide leadership to this festival as they did in protests against an energy pipeline planned near the Missouri River in North Dakota and South Dakota.
The phrase is simple, but with profound implications. Life as we on earth know it always requires water, especially for plants and animals. Indeed, the bodies of adult humans consist on average of 55-60 percent water. And this water must constantly be replenished.
Sustainability plans, therefore, must always prioritize water. We can say that every plan to support sustainability must include combinations of goals, strategies, and actions to ensure that the (water) needs of the present are met in such a way as to ensure that the (water) needs of the future are not compromised.
Pando Populus programs are anchored in the Los Angeles County Our County sustainability plan (https://ourcountyla.lacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/OurCounty-Final-Plan.pdf). Somewhat surprisingly, this plan does not include an emphasis on water in its twelve goals, except for a brief reference to “recreational waters” along with other priorities in Goal 6. Why is that? There are essentially two reasons. First, the plan states that its goals are typically intersectional, relating multiple policy topics together to achieve higher-level outcomes. The plan accordingly states that more detailed references to policy topics often can be found in its statements of strategies and actions. Second, the intersectionality of water policy entails collaboration among more than one government agency, not just county government.
In the balance of this pamphlet, we will explore how water issues are addressed by Los Angeles County in its Our County plan, and what other agencies in Metropolitan Los Angeles collaborate with the County to ensure that water can support life sustainably in the future of the region. We will also take a brief look at how other major U.S. cities in the Greater Southwest (San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Tucson) are endeavoring to improve their management of water sustainably.
To continue reading, download the report for free here.