Proposal to California Community Foundation Landscape Scan for the Los Angeles River Communities
Equity and Sustainability Project
Equity and Sustainability Project
In response to California Community Foundation’s request for a Landscape Scan for the Los Angeles River Communities Equity and Sustainability Project, TreePeople propose the following team and approach to complete the Scan.
PROJECT TEAM
TreePeople will work in partnership with the Council for Watershed Health to provide the Landscape Scan. TreePeople is a California not-for-profit organization founded more than 40 years ago with expertise in the areas of water supply, stormwater capture, and green infrastructure including urban forestry. They possess extensive experience in public-private stakeholder facilitation, planning and project development, regional and state water policy strategy and development, community outreach and hands-on education. They are recognized nationally for their unique Citizen Forester model, and how to inspire low-income residents to plant and care for trees, and capture and manage rainwater.
The Council for Watershed Health (CWH) is a non-profit organization founded 20 years ago to advance the health and sustainability of the Los Angeles region’s watersheds. CWH employs professionals with expertise and experience in watershed resource planning using GIS, green infrastructure, environmental assessment, and community engagement. CWH understands the complexities of engaging multiple agencies, residents, and stakeholders on projects in diverse communities and have established strong working partnerships with community organizations and agencies throughout Los Angeles County.
TreePeople and CWH have worked collaboratively on multiple projects relevant to the Landscape Scan, including creation of the Elmer Avenue demonstration project. As a team, they are one of only two on-call consultants to the County of Los Angeles to design and carry out the $9.8M Proposition 1 Disadvantaged Community Involvement Program which, over the next 3 years, will work with under-resourced communities to educate residents on their local water issues, assess local water needs, and provide technical assistance in developing water projects and becoming an ongoing part of local and regional water management. TreePeople and CWH will draw upon their separate research and planning experience from the following projects to complete the Scan and provide guidance to the Foundation:
●Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Stormwater Capture Master Plan
●Transferring Lessons from Australia’s Millennium Drought to California: Accelerating Adaptation to Drought, Flood and Heat
●Los Angeles Basin Stormwater Conservation Study
●Disadvantaged Community Outreach Evaluation Study: An Analysis of Technical Assistance and Outreach Methods
●Compton Creek Storm Drain Daylighting Feasibility Study
●Compton Creek Watershed Management Plan
TreePeople will provide overall management of the project, and work in partnership with CWH in project design, stakeholder identification and outreach, and distillation of information. CWH will perform interviews to collect information, and lead the writing of the report. The team may also draw additional guidance from consultants as needed, including Dr. George Leddy and the Sustainability Institute of LA Community College District (bios for key staff provided below).
BACKGROUND AND APPROACH – WATERSHEDS and ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
TreePeople’s long-held framework for grappling with the complex issues of water in Los Angeles is to base understanding and action on the underlying ecosystem; in this case, the natural watershed – the flow and function of water that shaped the geography and ecosystem of the region before significant urban development in the 20th century. Various aspects of the Los Angeles River still reflect the natural watershed in the region; but the river has been dramatically altered by urban development as well.
Watersheds have become a major organizing principle for water agencies, especially in the last 10-20 years with the emergence of Integrated Regional Watershed Management (IRWM) Regions designated and regulated by the State of California. For Los Angeles County, multiple water agencies and many community stakeholders participate in water management and planning efforts through the Greater Los Angeles County IRWM structure. This structure is broken into five sub-regions, with a Leadership Group led by Los Angeles County Department of Public Works that oversees the larger region collectively.
Two of the sub-regions encompass the Los Angeles River (Upper LA River sub-region and Lower San Gabriel and Los Angeles Rivers sub-region). The Southeast Cities referenced in the Landscape Scan Scope of Work fall in the Lower San Gabriel and Los Angeles Rivers sub-region. (TreePeople understands these areas to include Bell, Bell Gardens, Commerce, Cudahy, Huntington Park, Lynwood, Maywood, South Gate, Vernon, and Walnut Park).
Under-resourced community involvement is part of the structure, and occurs most consistently at the sub-region level. Each sub-region holds monthly public meetings that allow community members, organizations (CBOs) and other stakeholders to participate in IRWM Plan discussions, project submissions and other issues that come before IRWM as a whole. In addition, there is a County-wide Disadvantaged Community subcommittee that meets monthly (on which TreePeople serves).
In 2013, the California Department of Water Resources sponsored two local studies to evaluate and recommend strategies for future under-resourced community engagement processes around IRWM. Council for Watershed Health carried out the Disadvantaged Community Outreach Evaluation Study: An Analysis of Technical Assistance and Outreach Methods (referenced earlier) on effective community outreach strategies within the GLAC Region. The City of Maywood was a special focus area. The Outreach Study provided the most comprehensive identification of state-defined Disadvantaged Communities in LA County for investments in water-related project development.
The San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (RMC) also published the Alcanza Outreach Project: Engaging Disadvantaged Communities in Resource Management to assess the planning process of developing projects that meet IRWM guidelines within urban DACs (the City of Lynwood was a focus area).
TreePeople and CWH can draw upon their many network contacts established through the IRWM structure, as well as through the studies referenced, to help shape the Landscape Scan. Other appropriate network connections include the following:
●TreePeople has a robust community engagement program based in Huntington Park (working with Communities for a Better Environment and other CBOs) and has been planning programs in surrounding areas (including Cudahy, where Habitat for Humanity is actively involved in local planning).
●TreePeople has also regularly engaged with LA’s coalition focused on bringing state Cap and Trade funding to build affordable housing in LA. Major participants include
●CWH was recently appointed to serve on the AB 530 Lower LA River Working Group to develop a "revitalization plan" for the Lower Los Angeles River. This area includes the Rio Hondo and Compton Creek, largely comprised of low income and underserved communities. CWH participates in three key committees: Water & the Environment, Implementation, and Community Engagement.
SCOPE OF WORK:
TreePeople’s proposes the following approach to the requested Scope of Work:
Part 1 – Landscape Analysis:
●Build Interviewee list – pull together a list of known stakeholders focused on topics and geographic areas referenced in the Scope of Work.
●Briefing / Leadership discussion – as soon as possible after start of the project, hold a meeting with CA Community Foundation representatives and any leadership stakeholders they recommend, to provide a high-level overview of major issues and strategies related to water supply, water quality and flood control in the greater Los Angeles area. The proposed list of target interviewees will be shared at that time. The Briefing will consist of a group discussion to refine the topics to be covered in interviews with stakeholders, including housing and economic development, and identify other stakeholders to target.
Part 2 – Report:
●Data collection design – shape questions and/or surveys for interviewing stakeholders; review and approve with designated Foundation Program Officer.
●Outreach and data collection – set up and conduct interviews with 10-20 stakeholders. Providing online surveys may be an alternate method for some portion of data collection.
●Draft Report - data collection, report drafting and creation of suggested framework. The draft will be shared for initial comments from CCF and select stakeholders, and revised accordingly.
Part 3 – Finalize Opportunities: Closing Leadership Discussion – reconvene the Leadership group from Part 1 Briefing/Discussion for review of the report, and identification and discussion on next steps. Share the report with stakeholders identified and interviewed during the process for feedback.
BIOGRAPHIES
TREEPEOPLE - Key Staff:
Andy Lipkis – President and Founder of TreePeople
Mr. Lipkis is a pioneer in community and government engagement in urban forestry, environmental education, and integrated urban watershed management. His expertise includes training, educating and partnering with communities, leading technical demonstrations, and facilitating and influencing top policymakers and agency leaders. Mr. Lipkis currently facilitates the Greater Los Angeles Water Collaborative, consisting of leaders from LA Department of Water and Power, LA Bureau of Sanitation and LA County Flood Control District.
Cindy Montanez – Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Montanez was a California State Assembly Member and chaired the Select Committee on Environmental Justice, with a special emphasis on groundwater contamination and stormwater capture. Her experience includes chief liaison to the Governor’s office, the State Legislature, and other key federal and state water, energy and environmental regulatory agencies and serves on the Board of Directors for the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and a Legislator-in-Residence at the USC Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics.
Edith de Guzman, Director of Research
Ms. de Guzman manages research into best practices for the sustainable transformation of the Greater Los Angeles Area. She has led or co-authored multiple published reports on stormwater capture and green infrastructure, and was most recently TreePeople project lead and a co-author of the Greening Plan for Inglewood and Lennox. She also oversees a DAC marketing study using community-based social marketing principles focused on barriers and motivators to long-term community environmental stewardship in the City of Huntington Park.
Ernesto Hidalgo, Special Projects, Office of the CEO
ADD BIO
COUNCIL FOR WATERSHED HEALTH Key Staff:
Wendy Ramallo, Executive Director
Ms. Ramallo’s experience includes 15 years of organizational leadership, currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Upper Los Angeles River Sub-region and member of the Greater Los Angeles IRWM Leadership Committee. She has extensive experience in project design and implementation in DACs including community-based design in park development and public safety, and community-based participatory research and planning in health, welfare and prevention.
Jason Casanova, Director of Planning and Information Design
Mr. Casanova’s experience includes GIS and Data Visualization at CWH, and has over seventeen years of research and project management experience to solve watershed-based management issues. Mr. Casanova provides technical support to project teams including analysis, monitoring, data collection, and visualization across all aspects of watershed management. He currently manages a portfolio of projects that includes developing customized web-based map applications local groups will use to help evaluate “greening” opportunities in their community and coordination of CWH’s DAC community-based capacity building and technical assistance in multi-benefit infrastructure.
Eileen Alduenda,Sr. Manager – Urban Ecological Design
Ms. Alduenda’s experience includes over 10 years of green infrastructure management related to urban design and stormwater management in Disadvantaged Communities. She provides technical support to project teams that integrate green infrastructure and Low Impact Development principles and practices into urban site design. She recently managed a technical assistance team that provided LID technical expertise to more than 40 schools throughout California in support of the California State Water Resource Control Board’s Drought Response Outreach Program for Schools (DROPS) Technical Assistance Project.
John Tangenberg, Sr. Geospatial Data Scientist
Mr. Tangenberg’s experience builds on the development of methods and data that inform decision-making for multi-benefit urban greening projects. John is the Council’s authority on the Department of Water Resources Groundwater Augmentation Model (GWAM) and LSPC stormwater pollutant-loading model for Los Angeles County. Combined with his development of GIS techniques for modeling pedestrian access and analyzing urban canopy cover, John brings a unique perspective to the design process of advancing urban greening projects that integrate benefits for both water and the community. His recent project work focuses on creating spatial decision support tools for community-based organizations interested in stormwater capture and planning for active transportation.
Yareli Sanchez, Senior Scientist
Ms. Sanchez experience includes extensive research experience in aquatic ecosystems, including understanding nutrient cycling, trace gas emissions, and plant response to inundation in wetland ecosystems. Yareli brings a valuable and multi-disciplinary understanding of water resource issues. She provides technical expertise related to monitoring, project design, aquatic ecology, and data collection and analysis. Her portfolio encompasses L.A. river monitoring, understanding the performance and water quality benefits of green infrastructure projects, and community engagement in watershed management.
SUSTAINABILITY INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT – Key staff:
George Leddy, PhD
George Leddy, PhD, is an adjunct professor of environmental science and geography in the Los Angeles Community College District as well as Santa Monica College. Dr. Leddy has been teaching environmental science since 2003. Previously he was a lecturer in geography at UCLA for six years. Today Dr. Leddy is also Curriculum Coordinator for the Sustainability Institute of the LACCD, a project of the District Academic Senate. In this capacity, he is currently working on producing classroom modules in water conservation and efficient building construction for a project on green jobs at LA Trade Tech College.
BUDGET:
In process!
PROJECT TEAM
TreePeople will work in partnership with the Council for Watershed Health to provide the Landscape Scan. TreePeople is a California not-for-profit organization founded more than 40 years ago with expertise in the areas of water supply, stormwater capture, and green infrastructure including urban forestry. They possess extensive experience in public-private stakeholder facilitation, planning and project development, regional and state water policy strategy and development, community outreach and hands-on education. They are recognized nationally for their unique Citizen Forester model, and how to inspire low-income residents to plant and care for trees, and capture and manage rainwater.
The Council for Watershed Health (CWH) is a non-profit organization founded 20 years ago to advance the health and sustainability of the Los Angeles region’s watersheds. CWH employs professionals with expertise and experience in watershed resource planning using GIS, green infrastructure, environmental assessment, and community engagement. CWH understands the complexities of engaging multiple agencies, residents, and stakeholders on projects in diverse communities and have established strong working partnerships with community organizations and agencies throughout Los Angeles County.
TreePeople and CWH have worked collaboratively on multiple projects relevant to the Landscape Scan, including creation of the Elmer Avenue demonstration project. As a team, they are one of only two on-call consultants to the County of Los Angeles to design and carry out the $9.8M Proposition 1 Disadvantaged Community Involvement Program which, over the next 3 years, will work with under-resourced communities to educate residents on their local water issues, assess local water needs, and provide technical assistance in developing water projects and becoming an ongoing part of local and regional water management. TreePeople and CWH will draw upon their separate research and planning experience from the following projects to complete the Scan and provide guidance to the Foundation:
●Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Stormwater Capture Master Plan
●Transferring Lessons from Australia’s Millennium Drought to California: Accelerating Adaptation to Drought, Flood and Heat
●Los Angeles Basin Stormwater Conservation Study
●Disadvantaged Community Outreach Evaluation Study: An Analysis of Technical Assistance and Outreach Methods
●Compton Creek Storm Drain Daylighting Feasibility Study
●Compton Creek Watershed Management Plan
TreePeople will provide overall management of the project, and work in partnership with CWH in project design, stakeholder identification and outreach, and distillation of information. CWH will perform interviews to collect information, and lead the writing of the report. The team may also draw additional guidance from consultants as needed, including Dr. George Leddy and the Sustainability Institute of LA Community College District (bios for key staff provided below).
BACKGROUND AND APPROACH – WATERSHEDS and ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
TreePeople’s long-held framework for grappling with the complex issues of water in Los Angeles is to base understanding and action on the underlying ecosystem; in this case, the natural watershed – the flow and function of water that shaped the geography and ecosystem of the region before significant urban development in the 20th century. Various aspects of the Los Angeles River still reflect the natural watershed in the region; but the river has been dramatically altered by urban development as well.
Watersheds have become a major organizing principle for water agencies, especially in the last 10-20 years with the emergence of Integrated Regional Watershed Management (IRWM) Regions designated and regulated by the State of California. For Los Angeles County, multiple water agencies and many community stakeholders participate in water management and planning efforts through the Greater Los Angeles County IRWM structure. This structure is broken into five sub-regions, with a Leadership Group led by Los Angeles County Department of Public Works that oversees the larger region collectively.
Two of the sub-regions encompass the Los Angeles River (Upper LA River sub-region and Lower San Gabriel and Los Angeles Rivers sub-region). The Southeast Cities referenced in the Landscape Scan Scope of Work fall in the Lower San Gabriel and Los Angeles Rivers sub-region. (TreePeople understands these areas to include Bell, Bell Gardens, Commerce, Cudahy, Huntington Park, Lynwood, Maywood, South Gate, Vernon, and Walnut Park).
Under-resourced community involvement is part of the structure, and occurs most consistently at the sub-region level. Each sub-region holds monthly public meetings that allow community members, organizations (CBOs) and other stakeholders to participate in IRWM Plan discussions, project submissions and other issues that come before IRWM as a whole. In addition, there is a County-wide Disadvantaged Community subcommittee that meets monthly (on which TreePeople serves).
In 2013, the California Department of Water Resources sponsored two local studies to evaluate and recommend strategies for future under-resourced community engagement processes around IRWM. Council for Watershed Health carried out the Disadvantaged Community Outreach Evaluation Study: An Analysis of Technical Assistance and Outreach Methods (referenced earlier) on effective community outreach strategies within the GLAC Region. The City of Maywood was a special focus area. The Outreach Study provided the most comprehensive identification of state-defined Disadvantaged Communities in LA County for investments in water-related project development.
The San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (RMC) also published the Alcanza Outreach Project: Engaging Disadvantaged Communities in Resource Management to assess the planning process of developing projects that meet IRWM guidelines within urban DACs (the City of Lynwood was a focus area).
TreePeople and CWH can draw upon their many network contacts established through the IRWM structure, as well as through the studies referenced, to help shape the Landscape Scan. Other appropriate network connections include the following:
●TreePeople has a robust community engagement program based in Huntington Park (working with Communities for a Better Environment and other CBOs) and has been planning programs in surrounding areas (including Cudahy, where Habitat for Humanity is actively involved in local planning).
●TreePeople has also regularly engaged with LA’s coalition focused on bringing state Cap and Trade funding to build affordable housing in LA. Major participants include
●CWH was recently appointed to serve on the AB 530 Lower LA River Working Group to develop a "revitalization plan" for the Lower Los Angeles River. This area includes the Rio Hondo and Compton Creek, largely comprised of low income and underserved communities. CWH participates in three key committees: Water & the Environment, Implementation, and Community Engagement.
SCOPE OF WORK:
TreePeople’s proposes the following approach to the requested Scope of Work:
Part 1 – Landscape Analysis:
●Build Interviewee list – pull together a list of known stakeholders focused on topics and geographic areas referenced in the Scope of Work.
●Briefing / Leadership discussion – as soon as possible after start of the project, hold a meeting with CA Community Foundation representatives and any leadership stakeholders they recommend, to provide a high-level overview of major issues and strategies related to water supply, water quality and flood control in the greater Los Angeles area. The proposed list of target interviewees will be shared at that time. The Briefing will consist of a group discussion to refine the topics to be covered in interviews with stakeholders, including housing and economic development, and identify other stakeholders to target.
Part 2 – Report:
●Data collection design – shape questions and/or surveys for interviewing stakeholders; review and approve with designated Foundation Program Officer.
●Outreach and data collection – set up and conduct interviews with 10-20 stakeholders. Providing online surveys may be an alternate method for some portion of data collection.
●Draft Report - data collection, report drafting and creation of suggested framework. The draft will be shared for initial comments from CCF and select stakeholders, and revised accordingly.
Part 3 – Finalize Opportunities: Closing Leadership Discussion – reconvene the Leadership group from Part 1 Briefing/Discussion for review of the report, and identification and discussion on next steps. Share the report with stakeholders identified and interviewed during the process for feedback.
BIOGRAPHIES
TREEPEOPLE - Key Staff:
Andy Lipkis – President and Founder of TreePeople
Mr. Lipkis is a pioneer in community and government engagement in urban forestry, environmental education, and integrated urban watershed management. His expertise includes training, educating and partnering with communities, leading technical demonstrations, and facilitating and influencing top policymakers and agency leaders. Mr. Lipkis currently facilitates the Greater Los Angeles Water Collaborative, consisting of leaders from LA Department of Water and Power, LA Bureau of Sanitation and LA County Flood Control District.
Cindy Montanez – Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Montanez was a California State Assembly Member and chaired the Select Committee on Environmental Justice, with a special emphasis on groundwater contamination and stormwater capture. Her experience includes chief liaison to the Governor’s office, the State Legislature, and other key federal and state water, energy and environmental regulatory agencies and serves on the Board of Directors for the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and a Legislator-in-Residence at the USC Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics.
Edith de Guzman, Director of Research
Ms. de Guzman manages research into best practices for the sustainable transformation of the Greater Los Angeles Area. She has led or co-authored multiple published reports on stormwater capture and green infrastructure, and was most recently TreePeople project lead and a co-author of the Greening Plan for Inglewood and Lennox. She also oversees a DAC marketing study using community-based social marketing principles focused on barriers and motivators to long-term community environmental stewardship in the City of Huntington Park.
Ernesto Hidalgo, Special Projects, Office of the CEO
ADD BIO
COUNCIL FOR WATERSHED HEALTH Key Staff:
Wendy Ramallo, Executive Director
Ms. Ramallo’s experience includes 15 years of organizational leadership, currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Upper Los Angeles River Sub-region and member of the Greater Los Angeles IRWM Leadership Committee. She has extensive experience in project design and implementation in DACs including community-based design in park development and public safety, and community-based participatory research and planning in health, welfare and prevention.
Jason Casanova, Director of Planning and Information Design
Mr. Casanova’s experience includes GIS and Data Visualization at CWH, and has over seventeen years of research and project management experience to solve watershed-based management issues. Mr. Casanova provides technical support to project teams including analysis, monitoring, data collection, and visualization across all aspects of watershed management. He currently manages a portfolio of projects that includes developing customized web-based map applications local groups will use to help evaluate “greening” opportunities in their community and coordination of CWH’s DAC community-based capacity building and technical assistance in multi-benefit infrastructure.
Eileen Alduenda,Sr. Manager – Urban Ecological Design
Ms. Alduenda’s experience includes over 10 years of green infrastructure management related to urban design and stormwater management in Disadvantaged Communities. She provides technical support to project teams that integrate green infrastructure and Low Impact Development principles and practices into urban site design. She recently managed a technical assistance team that provided LID technical expertise to more than 40 schools throughout California in support of the California State Water Resource Control Board’s Drought Response Outreach Program for Schools (DROPS) Technical Assistance Project.
John Tangenberg, Sr. Geospatial Data Scientist
Mr. Tangenberg’s experience builds on the development of methods and data that inform decision-making for multi-benefit urban greening projects. John is the Council’s authority on the Department of Water Resources Groundwater Augmentation Model (GWAM) and LSPC stormwater pollutant-loading model for Los Angeles County. Combined with his development of GIS techniques for modeling pedestrian access and analyzing urban canopy cover, John brings a unique perspective to the design process of advancing urban greening projects that integrate benefits for both water and the community. His recent project work focuses on creating spatial decision support tools for community-based organizations interested in stormwater capture and planning for active transportation.
Yareli Sanchez, Senior Scientist
Ms. Sanchez experience includes extensive research experience in aquatic ecosystems, including understanding nutrient cycling, trace gas emissions, and plant response to inundation in wetland ecosystems. Yareli brings a valuable and multi-disciplinary understanding of water resource issues. She provides technical expertise related to monitoring, project design, aquatic ecology, and data collection and analysis. Her portfolio encompasses L.A. river monitoring, understanding the performance and water quality benefits of green infrastructure projects, and community engagement in watershed management.
SUSTAINABILITY INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT – Key staff:
George Leddy, PhD
George Leddy, PhD, is an adjunct professor of environmental science and geography in the Los Angeles Community College District as well as Santa Monica College. Dr. Leddy has been teaching environmental science since 2003. Previously he was a lecturer in geography at UCLA for six years. Today Dr. Leddy is also Curriculum Coordinator for the Sustainability Institute of the LACCD, a project of the District Academic Senate. In this capacity, he is currently working on producing classroom modules in water conservation and efficient building construction for a project on green jobs at LA Trade Tech College.
BUDGET:
In process!
