The City Council on Monday will consider approving the Eaton Wash Stormwater Capture Project, which would combine a major water-quality project with a dog park, community gardens, walking paths, gathering areas, an outdoor classroom and a pedestrian bridge connecting the new space to Eaton Blanche Park.
The project would serve a drainage area of approximately 10,294 acres and reduce trash, sediment, nutrients, metals and other pollutants entering Eaton Wash and downstream waterways. Treated stormwater would also be used to recharge groundwater.
The project is proposed for city-owned property adjacent to Eaton Wash and Eaton Blanche Park. City officials identified the site through Pasadena’s Storm Drain Master Plan and Watershed Assessment as a strategic location for improving stormwater quality in the Eaton Wash watershed.
Plans call for diversion structures, pretreatment and filtration facilities, underground storage and infiltration facilities, monitoring infrastructure and utility improvements.
Above ground, the project would effectively expand Eaton Blanche Park and turn what the city describes as an underused property into a new recreational and community space.
In addition to the dog park, gardens and walking paths, plans include demonstration gardens, interpretive features and landscaping. City officials said the improvements would increase pedestrian connectivity and provide new recreational and educational opportunities for residents.
The design was developed following multiple community meetings, stakeholder discussions and outreach events. Public feedback helped shape the site’s layout, amenities and circulation features, according to the Public Works Department.
The project is approximately 90% designed.
On Monday, the council will be asked to adopt a mitigated negative declaration and mitigation monitoring and reporting program under the California Environmental Quality Act and approve the project’s design plans.
An initial environmental study found that potentially significant environmental impacts could be reduced to less-than-significant levels through mitigation measures incorporated into the project.
The city circulated the draft environmental study for public review beginning May 4. Comments from public agencies and residents focused primarily on downstream hydrology and water quality, water rights and regulatory authority, groundwater recharge, construction traffic and hauling, biological resources and technical studies.
City staff said no changes to the project were proposed following circulation of the draft study and no new information was identified that would require the environmental document to be recirculated.
Council approval would complete the city’s environmental review and allow the project to advance through final permitting and consultation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board and other agencies.
Approval would not authorize construction or award a construction contract. Public Works staff would return to the council, as necessary, for approval of a construction contract.
Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in July 2027.
The city has secured approximately $2.3 million in design funding through Los Angeles County’s Safe, Clean Water Program. Construction is expected to be funded through a combination of that program and approximately $6.5 million committed by Caltrans.
Here are the other items on Monday’s consent calendar.
City Could Ban Watering Decorative Grass Under State-Mandated Rules
The city could soon prohibit businesses, government agencies and homeowners associations from using drinking water to irrigate decorative grass under new conservation rules mandated by state law.
The City Council on Monday will consider directing the City Attorney to draft an ordinance within 60 days amending Pasadena’s water conservation regulations to restrict irrigation of “nonfunctional turf” — grass that serves no recreational or community purpose, including landscaping in street medians, business parks and office complexes.
The changes are required under Assembly Bill 1572, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2023 as part of California’s effort to reduce urban water use and protect water supplies.
The restrictions will be phased in beginning Jan. 1, 2027, when they take effect for properties owned by local governments, public agencies and public water systems. Commercial, industrial and other institutional properties would be covered beginning Jan. 1, 2028.
Common areas controlled by homeowners associations, common interest developments and similar organizations would follow in 2029. Certain public properties in disadvantaged communities would be covered beginning in 2031, depending on state funding for turf conversion.
The restrictions would not prevent potable water from being used when necessary to protect trees and other perennial plants or address immediate health and safety needs.
Pasadena Water and Power has been preparing customers for the requirements since 2023 through workshops, emails, bill inserts, flyers and site visits.
The Municipal Services Committee unanimously endorsed the proposed changes Aug. 25.
Officials said the ordinance would have no immediate impact on the Water Fund and no impact on the General Fund.
Pasadena Council to Consider Updated Rules for Two Parking Commissions
The update to the rules governing the South Lake Parking Place Commission would come nearly two decades after the City Council expanded the panel’s responsibilities to include parking meters but its bylaws were never changed.
The City Council on Monday will consider approving new rules and regulations for the South Lake commission and the Pasadena Playhouse Parking Meter Zone Advisory Commission.
The South Lake commission adopted its original rules in 1982 and amended them in 1988. In June 2007, the City Council authorized the South Lake Parking Meter Zone District and said the commission’s bylaws would need to be updated to reflect its new parking meter responsibilities.
A recent Department of Transportation staff audit found that update never occurred, according to a city staff report.
Transportation staff subsequently worked with the commission to revise the rules, placing them in a more current format and formally incorporating the panel’s parking meter responsibilities. The South Lake commission unanimously approved the revised rules in July 2025.
The Council will also consider rules for the Pasadena Playhouse Parking Meter Zone Advisory Commission, which was established in 2025 as the city worked toward launching a paid parking program in the Playhouse Village area.
Commission members and Transportation Department staff developed the regulations to establish the panel’s procedures and objectives. The commission unanimously adopted them at a November 2025 special meeting.
The Playhouse commission meets quarterly on the second Thursday of every third month.
City officials said Council approval is required before either commission’s rules can take effect.
The changes would have no fiscal impact, according to the staff report.
Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.
Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.
