Alan, thanks for the post.

This has been getting a lot of attention, particularly since it was reprinted on the Times Mag site.

I serve in a volunteer capacity on a couple of committees devoted to water for LA, and as I have gained expertise in the understanding of institutional issues, it's been an education. There is currently proposed a recycled water project for the San Fernando Valley. Very straight-forward, only involves advanced treatment of already highly purified water, then spreading to percolate into the ground. Already own the land and easements, already have the full technology and expertise within LADWP. Assuming no delays, not a drop of water will be produced before 2022. It takes astonishing time to build infrastructure.

Rainwater harvesting is an interesting problem. LA is in a unique situation, unlike many cities whose runoff simply goes to a downstream user. Harvesting for them means a shortage for someone else. Not so, LA....it runs into the ocean.

There are two major river systems running through the LA basin: LA River, and the San Gabriel River. Nearly 0% of the LA River stormwater is captured, nearly every drop of the San Gabriel River stormwater is captured.

The Center and West Coast basins, to the south and east of Los Angeles have already planned such a program out for independence from distant sources. It is supported by the population, strongly. It is being build now.

http://www.wrd.org/news/water-articles.php?url_nws=water-independence-network

In terms of capturing storm water, the traditional methods are quite problematic in the LA basin. Only 20% of the water is from "rural" watersheds, where traditional approaches such as dams might work. Problem is, there are no dam sites in our earthquake prone region in the watershed. So that requires different thinking about how to capture the water.

I've been particularly interested in a technology called "sand dams", which are a transformational approach used widely in Africa and Asia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_dam

About 80% comes from impermeable surfaces, that direct the water into the cement lined LA River.

So we have to look at innovative ways of managing storm water. One way has been the development of "permeable" street, driveway, and sidewalk surfaces, and the development of codes that require their use. Another way has been the development of the "green street" concept, possibly best developed by Portland. This short video shows what is possible, in capturing most water at the street level:

http://media.ci.portland.or.us/greenstreets/greenstreets.html

It is well to remember that 100 years ago, more people died from drowning in floods than anything else in LA. But the pendulum swung too far, and everything was created to get the water to the ocean.