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Water-wise park gets $20,000 greener Project to show efficiency of watershed Pasadena Star News Kimm Groshong, Staff Writer ALTADENA -- A $20,000 grant has moved a bare dirt patch at the southwest corner of Marengo Avenue and Woodbury Road closer to its planned transformation into a small water-wise pocket park. The Metropolitan Water District granted the funds to the Altadena Foothills Conservancy as one of 22 city makeover grants that will provide a total of $950,000 over the next two years to water conserving landscape projects throughout Southern California. Rick Carron, a member of the conservancy's board and project lead for the park, said the triangular, 8,000-square-foot park will serve two purposes. First, it will give the area residents a small nearby park. And second, it will serve as a miniature watershed, demonstrating how water can be used efficiently and effectively in a park of California native plants. "It will be an illustrative site where people can come, walk through the park and see how native, indigenous plants can be used and how attractive they are," Carron said. Organizers envision the park bringing aspects of the habitat found in the San Gabriel Mountains and foothills down into the urban area, beautifying the plot at the border between Pasadena and Altadena. The overall targeted budget for the park is $43,000. Spearheaded by Altadena Town Councilwoman Michele Zack, the council's Watershed Committee, and the conservancy, the project now has the support of a number of partners. Supervisor Mike Antonovich's office has donated $10,000 to help purchase some of the plants and the County Department of Public Works has donated boulders and provided engineering support and permit fee waivers. Pasadena Water & Power is excavating a pipeline and installing a meter at the site, giving the dirt patch a water source. Mark Goldschmidt Design has donated its landscape design services. Other partners include the Arroyo Seco Foundation, the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants of California, Altadena Heritage and the Foothill Municipal Water District. Current plans for the 136-foot deep and 106-foot wide park call for dozens of plant types, including coast live and Engelmann oaks, pepper trees, deer grass, lupines and bushes such as pink fairy dusters, sticky monkey flowers and white sage. "The whole idea is we've got gateways into Altadena that don't look like gateways," said Nancy Steele, the conservancy's president. She said the park will serve as an aesthetically pleasing gateway that will make residents proud to live in the neighborhood. Beyond that, the conservancy hopes to use the park as an educational platform to teach the public about how the watershed works and what a precious commodity water is in the San Gabriel Valley's foothill communities. Carron said the conservancy hopes that after visiting the park, "people might think twice before they purchase plantings that require a large amount of water... We also hope to inspire people to go up in the hills and take hikes on the trails." Plans call for ground-breaking within 90 days and park completion early next year. -- Kimm Groshong can be reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4451, or by e-mail at kimm.groshong@sgvn.com.

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