Guest Opinion | Erika Foy: “High Density and Low Water: An Inappropriate Combination for Our Drought-Stricken City”

Pasadena has recently been challenged by the state to zone our city for 9,400 new housing units to be built in the next eight years. Yes, you read that right.

City and state leaders are going to create policy that will allow them to wedge 9,400 new apartments, condos, townhomes, and other multi-family/mixed-use developments into our city. This is only achievable by filling South Fair Oaks, East Colorado, East Pasadena, and the Central District (along with other neighborhoods) with concrete canyons of dense housing that will create an incredible new burden on our already limited city streets, parks, and water resources.

Meanwhile, on August 16th, Pasadena City Council unanimously approved a proposal to establish a 15% water reduction goal to address the historic drought we are facing now and for the long term. With the staff of Pasadena Water and Power ringing the alarm on water levels on the Colorado River and the Northern Sierra water supply, and the city taking the appropriate step of implementing a Level Two Water Supply Shortage to address this problem, the need to reduce consumption paired with plans for massive growth just does not compute.

The resulting massive, densely populated projects being considered now are immeasurably frustrating to residents who are not only watching their city being altered in ways they never imagined, but who are now also being asked to reduce their water use by 15%. Perhaps the city should aim to reduce development by 15% or more to do their part as well.

At this particular city council meeting, the city manager said, “Simply stopping development in one city is really not the solution, in fact, the type of development in Pasadena is much more water efficient than what you see in building separate little boxes in the Inland Empire.”

I’m not really sure what a comparison to the Inland Empire has to do with anything as Pasadena considers the best way to address a water crisis of such a large magnitude. Rather, it seems to me that city leadership should be figuring out how to reduce the number of toilets being flushed and showers taken by putting a cap on the number of new developments we can responsibly support.

Considering we are living in a drought environment, it is difficult to see how the city can continue to approve large development projects without also considering the impact on our water supply. It is time to face the fact that we have limited water resources and a limited ability to handle the increased water demands that will come with each of these projects.

The newest monster-sized development on the planning department’s desk, located at 465-577 Arroyo Parkway, is asking for permission to build both a 154,000 square-foot medical office building and a 184,376 square-foot, 92-unit assisted living complex (complete with 850 parking spaces). This project is so large that the developers are required to study the impact it will have on the environment through an Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

As of now, the initial study of water use related to this project is considered complete, having found no issues. Any further study on water impacts have been found to be not necessary, and so, sadly, it appears water hydrology will not be included in the draft EIR. Considering the current drought conditions we’re facing, this omission seems highly inappropriate and I am hoping for a reconsideration. What kind of impact will this project have on our water supply, especially in combination with the thousands of future households being planned? Residents want, and deserve, to know.

Since city staff have indicated there is a “likely future shortage” of water, we need to ensure we have enough water to keep our green spaces and trees alive to fight an ever-increasing heat index. As we feel pressures from the state to continually increase our density, we need to ensure that we have enough water for the people currently living in Pasadena and for the businesses currently operating in Pasadena. The only way to figure this out is to study this issue and present the findings to the public. An EIR is the perfect opportunity.

We must demand that city staff require a complete and transparent analysis of water usage for all development projects now and in the future. We need to be responsible stewards of water for our city, for our businesses, and for our residents. Adding projects that require increased water usage when we are already worried about having enough for the businesses and residents that are here now is not only inappropriate, it is wrong for our environment and wrong for Pasadena’s future.

Erika Foy is a Pasadena resident. She is Vice President of the Madison Heights Neighborhood Association.