The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday, July 1, delayed a vote on a resolution opposing the city of Pasadena’s proposed Arroyo Seco Water Reuse project, as Pasadena extended public comment on the matter.
On the L.A. City Council’s agenda was Resolution 26-0777, which was introduced by Councilmember Ysabel Jurado in opposition to the project, which along with the city of South Pasadena city seeks to address water-quality issues along the Arroyo Seco channel.
The resolution opposed the project, citing destruction of nearly 140 trees, environmental impacts, the Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians, and Kizh Nation’s request for “full avoidance” of the site and failure to engage in meaningful community dialogue. It would also declare that “no San Pascual parkland be used for industrial infrastructure.”
Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco Water Reuse project includes 1.4 acres at the San Rafael site, in Pasadena southwest of the San Rafael overpass and to the west of the Arroyo Seco Channel. Another 2.2 acres of land for the project is at the San Pascual site, with 1.7 acres in South Pasadena and 0.5 acres in LA’s San Pascual Park, near San Pascual Avenue and Stoney Drive.
The two locations would divert, infiltrate and treat water from the Arroyo Seco Channel, removing 157 pounds of zinc per year and 12.5 pounds per year at San Pascual and San Rafael, respectively. Less than 10% of water would be captured for irrigation at Arroyo Seco Golf Course in South Pasadena, part of an “existing, historic irrigation system that captures water runoff,” according to a Pasadena city document.
The project is framed by a state mandate aimed at reducing the channel’s bacterial load. In 2010, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board established a total maximum daily load number for bacteria — the capacity of water to absorb pollutants — affecting the L.A. river watershed, including the Arroyo Seco Channel. According to city of Pasadena project manager Christina Monde, fees of $10,000 a day could be levied for lack of compliance unless the city is actively pursuing a project.
The Arroyo Seco Water Reuse project is in the draft environmental impact report (EIR) stage, a result of settled litigation in July 2024, which elevated the city’s mitigated negative declaration to a draft EIR.
A Pasadena city press release on Wednesday announced that the city approved a 30-day extension to the EIR’s public comment review period, moving the last day to submit comments from July 2 to July 31.
Jurado’s original L.A. City Council resolution stated the Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians, Kizh Nation as the ancestral tribe of the Arroyo Seco and cited the Kizh nation’s request for “full avoidance of the site” as a reason for opposition to the project.
Several comments submitted by tribal representatives of the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians, Gabrieleno Tongva, asked for the resolution to be withdrawn from consideration or amended “to ensure that all culturally affiliated Tribes identified through the Native American Heritage Commission have been afforded an opportunity to participate in meaningful consultation.”
Jurado announced an amendment to Resolution 26-0777 on Wednesday in order to “make the resolution consistent with our land acknowledgement policies,” she said at the meeting.
Statements from members of the Kizh Nation opposed the amended language, requesting no additional tribes or organizations be included and to maintain recognition of the Kizh Nation’s history to the Arroyo Seco region, historically known by the Kizh as Hahamongna.
Under AB 52 of the California Environmental Quality Act, agencies are required to consult with tribes during the environmental review process of projects. Pasadena’s EIR states that a sacred lands file search came back positive for the project’s area, meaning there are records of ceremonial, cultural or religious sites.
According to the draft EIR, the city of Pasadena reached out to the Kizh Nation and the Gabrielino-Tongva Nation. The Gabrielino-Tongva nation did not respond to the city’s notification and the city continued consultation with the Kizh Nation.
Mitigation measures included: designate Kizh Nation as the tribal monitor during ground disturbing activities and cease activities upon the unanticipated discovery of tribal cultural resource objects, human remains or ceremonial objects.
Last July, Hereditary Chief Andrew Salas submitted a letter to the city of Pasadena urging for “full avoidance” of the area due to substantial evidence of encountering ancestral human remains.
“The substantial evidence component is something as to why there were no other tribes involved in this process,” Matthew Teutimez, a biologist for the Kizh nation, said in an interview last week. “Because our tribe was the only one that possessed the substantial evidence of the burials that were found, of tribal cultural resource objects that we find in similar locations.”
With the delay on Wednesday, the resolution has been referred back to L.A.’s Rules, Elections and Intergovernmental Relations Committee. It is unclear when a vote will take place after the committee’s consideration of the resolution.
The L.A. City Council’s delay in voting on the resolution comes in light of growing discontent from local residents including a coalition of 20 environmental advocacy organizations and neighborhood councils in opposition.
Barbara Eisenstein, the founder of Friends of South Pasadena Nature Park, presented solutions at a community rally hosted at San Pascual Park on Monday, June 30. Some of those included a more nature-based alternative, targeting pollutants at sources like the nearby golf course and horse stables plus measuring current water quality conditions.
“We all agree that it’s important to have clean water and that we’d like to have healthy habitat and good parkland,” Eisenstein said. “Water quality mandates can be met without resorting to bulldozing and installing industrial infrastructure in these sites.”
According to 150 public comment files obtained from the city by Pasadena Star-News on June 23, a majority opposed the project. Many shared concerns about the environmental impact, the removal of nearly 140 trees, the diversion of water to Arroyo Seco Golf Course and the presence of sacred burial sites.
Some locals expressed disappointment in Councilmember Jurado’s resolution, including Pilar Reynaldo, a resident of Los Angeles who supported Pasadena’s project as a way to enhance a neglected area.
“Both projects are at outfalls of storm drains that carry so many toxins,” Reynaldo said in an interview. “The fact that you’re cleaning toxins, removing them from storm drain runoff, you’re infiltrating, you’re creating native habitat restoration. I mean, I don’t see the loss.”
Pasadena’s project manager Monde declined to comment on Councilmember Jurado’s resolution.
The L.A. City Council meeting’s stream can be found on Youtube and updates to the resolution can be found on the LA City Clerk’s site.