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MAYOR STEVE CROFT with scissors, cuts the ribbon opening the project. With him are Vice Mayor Todd Rogers, Councilman Jeff Wood, and Downey Mayor Sean Ashton.
Lakewood is now the first city in California to have completed a major stormwater capture project funded by the California Department of Transportation.
At a June 2nd ribbon-cutting, Lakewood community leaders and project participants surveyed the now-operational technical parts of the project, including its pump house and inflatable dam in the Los Cerritos Channel.
The dam captures dry-season and moderate wet-season flows in the channel and allows the water to be pumped to the new reservoir underneath Bolivar Park. The water there is cleaned and then used for irrigation. Some water is even infiltrated into the ground beneath the park where it ultimately will replenish groundwater aquifers deep below. In heavy rains, the dam deflates to allow stormwater to flow quickly and unhindered.
The $11 million in funding Lakewood received from Caltrans paid for the project, including two new picnic shelters, turf and an irrigation system for Bolivar Park. The picnic shelters are expected to open in a few weeks after the new turf grows enough to withstand play and foot traffic.
McCormick Pool at the park will open on Saturday, June 16 for its regular summer season of lessons and lap and recreational swim sessions. For details on McCormick’s schedule go to www.lakewoodcity.org/swim.
