May 13, 2025
Key equity goals UCLA research will support include tap water understanding and trust, affordability, and broader community engagement
Photo by Denise Goolsby / The Desert Sun
Los Angeles is investing heavily in recycled water to increase the resiliency of local drinking water supplies to future costs, earthquakes, and climate-induced drought. Now, a new initiative led by the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation will work to ensure that water equity is at the forefront of this transition.
The project will support public engagement and understanding of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s (LADWP’s) and Los Angeles Sanitation and Environment (LASAN) joint, city-wide flagship water recycling program, Pure Water Los Angeles, which the Luskin Center for Innovation recently determined will make L.A.’s water supply more resilient and offer substantial economic benefits. The team will now analyze its equity implications and establish a long-term framework for equitable water access across the city.
“Expanding local water sources is critical for L.A.’s climate resilience, but we must ensure that the transition is equitable,” said Ariana Hernandez, Luskin Center for Innovation project manager on the effort. “This initiative will help integrate equity into water investments, ensuring affordability, trust, and community engagement are prioritized.”
This project is similar to the Luskin Center for Innovation-led initiative that is working to embed equity into LADWP’s clean energy transition effort (LA100 Equity Strategies). “We’re bringing that same equity lens to ensure that L.A.’s transition to local water benefits everyone,” said Gregory Pierce, project PI and co-executive director of the Luskin Center for Innovation.”
The Luskin Center for Innovation will tackle the following tasks:
This project has the potential to not only create lasting structures to ensure that the City’s water equity efforts become embedded in long-term planning but also become a model for other cities navigating the challenges of sustainable water management.
See the Luskin Center for Innovation website to learn more about our research initiatives on local water supply and wastewater infrastructure.
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