Los Angeles Waterkeeper

Background

Los Angeles Waterkeeper (LAW) was originally founded as Santa Monica Baykeeper in 1993 by Terry Tamminen in partnership with philanthropists Frank and Luanne Wells. Tamminen started by patrolling the Santa Monica Bay on a houseboat looking for activities that caused pollution and then pursuing litigation to address these. ¹

LAW’s first lawsuit in 1994 was with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), one of the nation’s largest environmentalist groups, against the California Department of Transportation (known as Caltrans) to reduce pollution on Los Angeles highways. LAW focuses on litigation guided by the belief that “the most powerful and effective resource available in our quest for healthy waterways: the law.” Since its founding Los Angeles Waterkeeper has filed over 100 lawsuits. ¹

LAW moved its location to Los Angeles in 2022 after 30 years in Santa Monica to be closer to the governmental and water agencies and to participate in county and city meetings concerning water use. ³ It maintains a full-time staff of environmental scientists, attorneys, and educators. ⁴

LAW is a member of the Waterkeeper Alliance, an environmental activist group supporting left-of-center environmental policies. ²

Programs

The Pollution Prevention program focuses on industrial and stormwater runoff which carries pesticides, herbicides, oils, trash, and contaminants from communities and businesses that flow into the area’s waters untreated. Los Angeles Waterkeeper uses oversight and litigation to enforce or create regulations as well as education and advocacy. Through the Community Water Watch LAW trains volunteers to do water quality sampling that can be used in advocacy and litigation. ⁵

The Healthy Habitats program includes research, fieldwork, community engagement, and regulatory and legal advocacy focused on cleaning up Los Angeles waterways. The Marine Protected Area Watch coordinates coastal on-the-water monitoring trips for staff and volunteers, looking for illegal fishing, toxic pollution, and other threats to the waterways. ⁶

The Systems Change program promotes a “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Restore” approach for reduced water usage, stormwater reuse, wastewater recycling, and groundwater restoration through advocacy and litigation. ⁷

As of April 2023, LAW was preparing to roll out the Clean Water Activist program, which will involve virtual activist training for members of Los Angeles area communities to give them the tools they need to attend public meetings, speak out, and engage in activism when decisions that they perceive will impact their environment are being made. ⁸

Controversies

In June 2022, Los Angeles County approved the L.A. River Master Plan which included the development of 51 miles of open space and industrial areas along the river into a cultural park. Eight environmental groups, including Los Angeles Waterkeeper, withdrew support for the plan, indicating they would rather see more natural preservation of the river and surrounding area. The groups asked that their names and logos be removed from the master plan. ^{9 10} In July 2022, Los Angeles Waterkeeper and Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles County requesting that they rescind their approval of the plan. ¹¹

Funding

Its 2020 donors included left-of-center donor advised fund Network for Good, apparel company Patagonia which is known for its environmental activism, left-of-center grantmaking and environmental conservation group Resources Legacy Fund, and Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment. ¹²

Partners of Los Angeles Waterkeeper include the social-activist Liberty Hill Foundation, described as the “Home for Progressive Los Angeles”; ¹³ Environment Now, a nonprofit foundation founded by philanthropists Frank and Luanne Wells to address California’s environment; ¹⁴ and left-of-center environmentalist organization 1% for the Planet. ^{15 16}

Leadership

Bruce Reznik is executive director of Los Angeles Waterkeeper. He is a California licensed attorney that has been involved in affordable housing efforts and in water advocacy throughout his career. ¹⁷ Previously, Reznik led LAW’s sister organization San Diego Coastkeeper and was executive director for the San Diego Housing Federation. ¹⁸

Jonathan D. Varat is board chair. ¹⁹ Varat is a professor at UCLA School of Law. ²⁰

Terry Tamminen was the founder of Santa Monica Baykeeper. He led the organization for five years then continued to work for environmental causes. He was executive director of the Environment Now Foundation; CEO of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, a left-of-center environmental activist and grantmaking organization chaired by actor Leonardo DiCaprio; and strategic advisor to the founding chair of R20 Regions of Climate Action which develops financial vehicles for environmental projects globally. ²¹