From sick marine life to increasingly frequent harmful algal blooms, at LA Waterkeeper, we understand these are not isolated events — they’re a wake-up call. A signal that the way we’ve managed water in Los Angeles for the past century is not working, and that change is not only necessary, it’s long overdue.

The onus is now on the EPA and our state and local regulatory agencies to step up and issue stronger, more enforceable wastewater permits that explicitly define pollution limits at their source.

Though recent headlines may suggest these problems are new, the reality is that bacterial contamination, ocean advisories, and beach closures have been worsening in recent years. It’s enough to make any beach-going Angeleno wonder: what’s going on, and is this something people should be worried about?

Two years have passed since a catastrophic system failure at the Hyperion Water Treatment Plant led to a massive spill of 12.5 million gallons of raw sewage into the plant’s one-mile outfall pipe. This disaster on July 11, 2021 was our region’s most devastating sewage spill in decades. In its aftermath, LA Sanitation & Environment (LASAN) is working with the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LA Regional Board) on a plan to address its numerous violations related to the spill. Depending on the outcome of negotiations between these agencies, robust penalties for this spill could create an opportunity for local community investments focused on ecological restoration, as well as investments that would modernize our wastewater system to protect our region from similar spills in the future.

How do we prevent future sewage spills from occurring, so our communities and environment aren’t further damaged? And of course, when will it be safe to go back out into the water? LA Waterkeeper has kept track of the situation to help keep YOU informed on the latest updates on the spill and its aftermath.

A major step towards water independence.