Pasadena has been relying on water from the Arroyo Seco and the Raymond Basin for 35% of local supply for many decades. The other major source is much more expensive water from the Metropolitan Water District.
The local supply is now threatened and the imported supply is increasingly expensive and less reliable.
Pasadena Water & Power (PWP) told us they were managing groundwater with a "safe yield" standard that would balance pumping with natural replenishment, but the overdraft of the Raymond Basin has continued steadily for more than one hundred years. The end (or bottom) is now within sight.
It would be a terrible legacy to destroy this invaluable water resource for future generations.
Pasadena Water & Power has unveiled a plan for the next 25 years called the Water System and Resource Plan (WSRP) that will be considered by the City Council sometime in April, 2021. Its a $425 million plan, however, that relies heavily on continuing to drain the Raymond Basin and neglecting the impacts of climate change.
ASCP is a PWP project that would further drain the Arroyo Seco stream and expand sterile spreading basins to allow PWP to pump more from the underlying groundwater basin.
ASCP will degrade the natural environment in Hahamongna Watershed Park for fish and wildlife. PWP presented the plan for EIR approval to a zoning officer who gave his approval on January 6th, 2021. ASF and others will appeal that decision and ensure that the plan will be presented to the Pasadena City Council for consideration because of the vital policy isses involved.