Sun Valley has long been one of the most flood-prone parts of the city. In the ‘80s and ’90s when it rained, news crews would head there for the most dramatic shots. The largely working-class, Latino neighborhood in the northeast San Fernando Valley is also a pollution hotspot, with landfills, auto shops and heavy industry nestled amid homes.
LA Has Big Plans To Turn A Landfill Into A Wetland, But Delays Are Jeopardizing The Project
At the same time, as the climate crisis leads to hotter droughts, more intense rainstorms and less reliable snow — traditionally our largest source of drinking water — L.A. desperately needs to become more like a sponge.
That will help to capture more stormwater locally when rain does come and lessen devastating flooding, said Edith de Guzman, a UCLA water equity and climate adaptation researcher.
“We’ve created a problem because we have paved a large majority of the area,” de Guzman said. “What used to be porous is not porous.”
Flooding on Tujunga Avenue in Sun Valley during rain storms in winter 2024.
Courtesy of Mariam Moore
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LAist
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Turning a landfill into a park
In Sun Valley, an effort to address flooding, the need to capture more stormwater and add much-needed green space is decades in the making.
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