Los Angeles County did not let this rainy season go to waste. County officials say they captured more than 120 billion gallons of stormwater between November 2025 and March 2026, enough to supply roughly 3 million people for a year and far surpassing last season's haul. They are crediting both heavier storms and years of investment in dams, spreading grounds and reservoir maintenance for the big jump.
The county, which released its figures this week, estimates this year’s total is about ten times last year's capture and “can meet the needs of 3 million people for an entire year.” As Supervisor Lindsey Horvath put it, “Every gallon we capture reduces our reliance on imported water,” according to NBC Los Angeles.
How LA County Stores Stormwater
The county steers stormwater behind 14 major dams and into 27 county-operated spreading grounds and recharge facilities, where the water seeps into the ground and refills local aquifers. Those systems, along with partnerships with city water agencies, form the backbone of the county's stormwater capture strategy, according to LA County Public Works.
Officials and local reporting say the gains are the payoff from years of projects and maintenance: raising dam capacities, removing sediment that eats up storage space, and syncing reservoir operations with weather forecasts. As the Los Angeles Times reported, those steps, plus Measure W funding and other investments, helped turn a volatile rainy season into usable water instead of letting it rush out to sea.
City Capture, Local Impact
The City of Los Angeles, which runs its own spreading grounds and neighborhood green-infrastructure projects, logged nearly 5.5 billion gallons of captured stormwater since Oct. 1, 2025, according to estimates from the Department of Water and Power. That city tally sits alongside the larger countywide figure. For context, Los Angeles County is home to about 9.7 million people, per U.S. Census QuickFacts. The city numbers were detailed in a release from Mayor Karen Bass' office.
Local leaders argue that captured stormwater is cheaper and more resilient than imported supplies, and the county is planning additional investments to lock in recent gains and expand local capacity. At the same time, researchers and advocates point out that even in very wet years, huge volumes of runoff still race to the Pacific. Closing that gap will take more infrastructure and funding across the state. For broader context on how much stormwater California lets slip away, see coverage from Phys.org.
County leaders say they will keep pushing upgrades to spreading grounds, multi-benefit stormwater parks and reservoir maintenance so that future storms translate into even more local supply. They also argue that this season's results give Los Angeles County extra leverage as it seeks state and federal grants to scale up capture and keep more water from flowing straight into the ocean. For more on those plans, see LA County Public Works.
