MANAGING STORM WATER IN
LOS ANGELES COUNTY L
os Angeles is associated with sunny skies, but when storms come, the water they bring can be difficult to manage in the city’s dense urban landscape. Since 2015, the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts (LACSD) have been legally permitted to aid their member jurisdictions with storm water management. Today, the Districts are figuring out safe and efficient ways to introduce storm water into their sewer systems and treat it to meet water quality standards. In this interview, Kristen Ruffell, the division engineer for the LACSD’s Water Quality Section, speaks with Municipal Water Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill about recent advances in storm water management in Los Angeles. Joshua Dill: Please tell us about your background and how you ended up in your current position.
Kristen Ruffell.
Joshua Dill: Would you give us an overview of the Sanitation Districts as a whole? What services do they provide, and how does storm water management fit in?
24 | MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER
PHOTO COURTESY OF LACSD.
Kristen Ruffell: I have a bachelor of science in civil engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and a master’s in environmental engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I have worked at the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts since 1999. I spent the beginning of my career with the Districts in the Sewerage Collection System and Treatment Plant Monitoring Sections, and have supervised and then managed our Water Quality Section since 2007.
