The Conservancy at 40: Urban Greening
The Coastal Conservancy was established with the core mandates of providing public access to California’s coastline and preserving endangered coastal habitats. Urban greening projects have emerged as an approach that blends the two goals in unexpected ways. Streets, medians, parking lots, and parks can bring nature to people and all the attendant benefits that come with having a respite from a heavily urban environment. They are also constructed in ways that benefit water quality, provide habitat for native species, capture and reuse stormwater, and provide shade and cooling that help reduce energy demand. Projects that incorporate those elements are referred to as urban greening projects. Green infrastructure helps restore the health of the watershed, which translates into a healthier coast, and a better environment in which people can recreate.
When first attempting to restore coastal wetlands back in the early 1980s, Conservancy staff quickly realized that most impacts were generated in the upper watersheds. Urbanization, agricultural practices, timber harvesting and other land uses in the watersheds affected the amount of sediment produced and transported, and the amount and quality of water in the streams feeding the coastal estuaries. Soon we were expanding our project scopes to include land use practices in the watersheds. In Los Angeles, the LA River became a focus of efforts to restore natural functions within the LA River watershed, and the Conservancy worked with California State Parks to create a natural park area within Rio de los Angeles State Park.
In 2008, the Coastal Conservancy worked with the City of Los Angeles Public Works Department to create the Riverdale Avenue Green Street Demonstration Project, from which the City adopted residential green street building standards. The project involved installation of infiltration tanks under the street to collect runoff, and bioswales in the parking strips. In 2012 the Conservancy gave a grant to The River Project to undertake the Los Angeles Rainwater Harvesting Project (aka Water LA) to work with homeowners in two different neighborhoods to redesign their front gardens to allow for stormwater capture and infiltration by creating bioswales and replacing concrete driveways with permeable surfaces.
Our work on climate change has increased since 2012, and several of our Southern California Climate Ready projects have focused on the water-energy nexus. Los Angeles in particular draws a huge amount of water from the State Water Project, which pumps water from northern California over the Tehachapi Mountains, into LA County. By reducing the amount of water pumped, less energy would be consumed and, by extension, fewer greenhouse gases emitted. Grants to the Council for Watershed Health and Community Conservation Solutions looked at Stormwater Capture as a Climate Adaptation Strategy and at Green Solutions for water capture and reuse on publicly owned land.
We look forward to a future where green streets are the standard, parks that provide multiple benefits to wildlife and humans are ubiquitous, and our coastal watersheds are healthy with clean water in streams and acquifers.
Latest News
- Press Release: Coastal Conservancy Awards $15.9 Million for Coastal Restoration, Protection, Public Access, and Climate Resilience2/2/2023 – Today, the Board of the State Coastal Conservancy approved 12 grants totaling over $15.9 million for restoration, protection, public access, and climate resilience along the California coast and San Francisco Bay. Among the projects was a grant of up to $7,000,000 to East Bay Regional Park District to acquire the 768-acre Finley Road […] (Read more on Press Release: Coastal...)
- Coastal Stories 2023 Request for Proposals (RFP) Now Open!The Coastal Conservancy announces its 2023 Coastal Stories grant program Request for Proposals. Through this program, we intend to make the outdoors more inclusive and welcoming for all Californians by fostering representation of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), people with disabilities, immigrant communities, low-income communities, and other historically excluded groups in outdoor spaces – […] (Read more on Coastal Stories 2023...)
- Job Posting: Associate Governmental Program AnalystThe Coastal Conservancy is recruiting for an Associate Governmental Program Analyst (AGPA) for our Budget unit to join our team. The State Coastal Conservancy values diversity at all levels of the organization and is committed to fostering an environment in which employees from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and personal experiences are welcomed and can […] (Read more on Job Posting: Associate...)


