Turning the Tides on LA’s Forest and Water Future

June 28, 2018

At TreePeople, creating and driving policy is critical to our impact.

Energized by victories on the $4 billion State Park Bond and the Residential Stormwater Property Tax Incentive and over $20 million of funding for urban forestry at both state and city levels, we’re accelerating our determination to transform people’s relationship with water and City’s urban forestry approach to people.

TreePeople’s leadership at the city, county and state levels continues to result in innovative and transformative changes. TreePeople is a trusted voice on environmental issues – we educate policymakers and shape laws, programs and budgets that support healthy forests, capture needed water and result in more climate-ready communities.

With you by our side, we can transform the public policy landscape just as we transform the physical landscape to ensure a climate-ready region that protects its people.

We need YOU to be part of that voice and impact. We would like to be able to call on TreePeople members and supporters like you to get involved with us to drive important decisions.

You have a critical chance approaching, as one of those game-changing decisions is coming before the County Supervisors on July 10. It’s called the Safe, Clean Water Program, and it could set a groundbreaking new path for LA’s water future.

Currently, we import 2/3 of our water, yet for every inch of rain, 10 billion gallons of water – nearly 1,000 gallons per person – runs across pavement, sidewalks, yards and roofs, picking up pollution before being washed away into the rivers and ocean.

The Safe, Clean Water Program would literally change the landscape for water in our region, making use of nature-based solutions like trees and wetlands to help slow down, clean and capture stormwater – investing in our parks, urban forest, greener streets and good jobs.

As a leader in the OurWaterLA coalition, TreePeople helped shaped this proposal, and now we’re bringing LA together to make sure the County Supervisors put it on the November ballot.

TreePeople like you and I can make a difference.

Join TreePeople on July 17 to help ensure the Safe, Clean Water Program moves forward to the voters!

 

By Cindy Montañez

As CEO of TreePeople, Cindy Montañez has rapidly expanded the Los Angeles-based organization’s impact across Southern California and turned it into the largest environmental movement and the fastest growing environmental nonprofit in the region.

At the age of 25, Cindy was elected as the youngest councilmember of her hometown of San Fernando. She became mayor at 27 and at 28 years old, was elected the youngest woman ever to the California State Legislature.

Upon leaving the legislature, Cindy was hired as Assistant General Manager at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, where she was a core part of the team transitioning the nation’s largest publicly-owned utility to cleaner energy and a more sustainable local water supply.

Cindy has been a longtime champion for bringing people together around the environment, sustainable urban planning and social justice.

In addition to her role as CEO of TreePeople, Cindy was elected in November to the San Fernando City Council and is currently a Board Member for the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.