Opposition to Arroyo Seco Water Reuse Project

The cities of Pasadena and South Pasadena are pushing forward with the Arroyo Seco Water Reuse Project, forced to prepare an Environmental Impact Report only after a lawsuit exposed their attempt to hide behind an inadequate Mitigated Negative Declaration. This project would destroy something irreplaceable—bulldozers poised to obliterate a century-old riparian oasis that has thrived in South Pasadena for generations. The living ecosystem, with its mature native trees sheltering birds, frogs, and fish, faces complete destruction. Where cool shade and flowing water now sustain life, the project would impose sterile concrete infrastructure, burying forever this rare surviving fragment of natural Los Angeles.

Better Projects

Friends of South Pasadena Nature Park and other environmental advocates strongly oppose this destruction, seeking alternatives that could achieve water reuse goals while restoring, not destroying, the Arroyo Seco ecosystem. Instead of backward-thinking concrete channels, we could be removing the failing flood control infrastructure and creating spaces where children can touch tadpoles and families can escape urban heat in the cool riparian shade.

Flawed Public Process

The public process has been deeply flawed—meetings with terrible acoustics where citizens were prevented from asking questions or making comments to the group as a whole. With the comment period closed and officials now silent, there’s growing fear that the massive financial investment has already sealed this habitat’s doom, turning the EIR process into mere theater rather than genuine environmental protection.

It’s Up to Us

Please educate yourself on this project and be prepared to comment when we’re brought back into the process. This will move quickly once the report is completed. Unless we change the nature of this project to include habitat preservation and restoration for the project sites and the Arroyo Seco more broadly, we will see more destruction and buried concrete. We can do better!

DONATE

We know times are tough, but we’re heading into a big fight when the Draft Environmental Impact Report (D-EIR) is released. We’ve heard there will be no real changes to their preferred plan — and we need to be ready. Please give to our FundMe site.

Any donation helps enormously.

DONATE

Be Heard

Regardless of where you live, sign these petitions.
Let our politicians know that we oppose the demolition of the San Pascual Wetland.
Please ask your friends and family to sign as well.

Help Out

If you would like to volunteer, please email Save San Pascual Park (savesanpascualpark@gmail.com)

Be Educated