The Storm Before the Calm: Stormwater Capture as a Means of Addressing Racism and Environmental Injustice in LA

America’s legacy of racist land use and housing policies affect how much impervious surface is in one’s neighborhood. This not only affects amounts of stormwater runoff generated, but also levels of greenery, temperature, and flooding. This research empirically examines the effect of race on neighborhood impervious surfaces in Los Angeles County. Results imply that LA County follows national patterns of environmental racism, but that there is also great potential to help address historically racist planning policies while meeting stormwater goals through the thoughtful placement of green infrastructure.

• Date: 03/29/23

• Time: 12:00pm

• Location: Zoom Virtual Webinar

Megan Kung
Economist, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board

Megan Kung is the economist at the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board and has also been a member of the State Water Resources Control Board Racial Equity Team. She incorporates racial equity considerations in her cost and benefit assessments of regulations, including the Regional MS4 Permit, TMDLs, and Agricultural Waste Discharge Requirements. Her research interests include environmental justice, green infrastructure, stormwater, and valuation of environmental benefits. She has been at the LA Regional Water Board since 2020. Prior to that, she was an economics specialist at ICF and a research fellow at U.S. EPA’s National Center for Environmental Economics. She holds a master’s degree in international environmental policy from the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from San Jose State University.