L.A. Water Agency Takes Heat For Wetting Down its Synthetic Turf

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) has come under criticism after a local TV station filmed one of the agency’s substations watering its artificial grass. The synthetic turf was installed in 2011 as part of a program to replace grass with drought-tolerant landscaping at 71 DWP facilities. “All told, this program has removed over 1.3 million square feet of grass and replaced it with California-friendly landscaping,” DWP spokesman Joe Ramallo told Reuters. “That’s enough water to (serve) 314 single-family homes in Los Angeles each year.” Nearby residents became angry after seeing the sprinkler systems running to water the synthetic turf.