General Plan Update - City of Inglewood

Chapter 6 Community Safety and Hazards
Creek and its tributaries, natural hydrologic functions have been significantly reduced
within the Watershed. Approximately 40 percent of the Watershed is covered by
impervious surfaces 92 .
Rainfall
The climate of the area is generally mild, as is typical of Mediterranean climate regions.
Rainfall events normally occur during the wet winter months, between November and
April. However, the region is subject to wide variations in annual rainfall, exemplified by
the drought conditions of the late 1980’ and the extreme wet years of the late 1990’s. In
1989 and 1990, the City received less than 5.5 inches of rainfall, while in the El Nino year
of 1998, the City received twice its annual average with 27.06 inches of rain. The annual
average for the past 88 years has been 13.38 inches. 93
Drainage Facilities
The City of Inglewood has approximately 54 miles of reinforced concrete pipe storm
drains and 1157 catch basins to convey storm water. 94 This system collects all runoff and
carries from the City and eventually to the Pacific Ocean. The City is currently
undergoing a comprehensive Storm Drain Master Study Plan to assess existing facilities
and address future needs. The Master Plan is scheduled for completion by the end of
2006. 95 Section 3.3 (Storm Drains) contains additional information on the City’s drainage
facilities.
Flooding
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as part of its responsibilities to
carry out the National Flood Insurance Program, has mapped most of the flood risk areas
within the United States. These maps, called Flood Insurance Rate Maps, depicting flood
hazards across the United States. The maps show “special flood hazard areas” for those
areas that are affected by a flood having a one-percent chance of occurrence in a given
year. The special flood hazard areas are shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps with
flood zone designations that begin with the letter A or V. By law, federally regulated
lending institutions must require the purchase of flood insurance for mortgages on
buildings shown in the special flood hazard areas on these maps. Outside of the special
flood hazard areas, flood zone designations B, C, and X identify areas of moderate or
minimal hazard from the principal source of flooding. FEMA has designated the city of
Inglewood under Flood Zone “C,” which does not require mandatory flood mitigation
92 County of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works, Dominguez Watershed Current Conditions, 2006.
Website: http://www.ladpw.org/wmd/watershed/DC/current_cond.cfm, accessed March 16, 2006.
93 Inglewood, City of. 2005 Urban Water Management Plan. December.
94 http://www.cityofinglewood.org/depts/pw/divisions/water_works/storm_water/storm_h2o.asp.
Accessed March 16, 2006.
95 Conversation with Eugene Parker, Inglewood Department of Public Works, March 20, 2006.
6.3-2
City of Inglewood General Plan Update Technical Background Report