What will Downey's Independence Park stormwater project do?

If you live near Independence Park or are considering a Downey property, you may be wondering what the city plans to build beneath and around the park. The proposal would fund design work for a facility intended to collect and infiltrate stormwater and dry weather runoff from about 560 adjacent acres. It also includes several park improvements, but it does not yet provide construction funding or a construction schedule.

This is general information and not legal advice.

Status as of 3 Nov 2026: listed for approval on the 27 Oct 2026 consent calendar; minutes were not yet posted, so the vote is not confirmed here.

What is Downey considering?

Downey is considering a transfer agreement that would provide $1,310,458 for designing the Independence Park Runoff Capture and Infiltration Facility.

The proposed agreement is with the Los Angeles County Flood Control District. Its formal identifier is Transfer Agreement No. 2024RPLSGR01. The money would be recorded as revenue in the Storm Water Fund CIP Account No. 50-1-4019 and used for design purposes.

The item appeared as item 4 on the October 27, 2026 City Council Consent Calendar. According to the agenda, matters on that calendar are approved with one motion unless a council member asks to remove an item. That placement does not confirm the result. The minutes had not been posted when the Downey agenda portal was checked on November 3, 2026.

Why is Independence Park the proposed location?

Independence Park is proposed because it sits near the downstream end of large county flood control storm drains beneath Bellflower Boulevard and Dunrobin Avenue.

Those lines carry wet weather runoff. The city needs to divert runoff from them to address Metals, Bacteria, and other Total Maximum Daily Load limits in its stormwater permit. The permit was issued by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region, to Downey and other cities in Los Angeles County.

That Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System permit requires the city to reduce pollutants entering the Lower San Gabriel River watershed, with deadlines. The proposed facility is intended to help meet that obligation while assisting with local flood mitigation. The staff report does not promise that it will eliminate flooding or change any property’s flood designation.

How would the facility handle runoff?

The proposed facility would direct runoff into an underground infiltration structure and a bioretention basin.

A concept and feasibility study completed in 2023 found that 4.5-acre-foot stormwater infiltration structures at Independence Park would be an optimum design. The Lower San Gabriel River Watershed Management Group funded that study.

Under the concept, runoff from the storm drains beneath Bellflower Boulevard and Dunrobin Avenue would be directed to both an underground infiltration structure and a bioretention basin.

The staff report’s description of the concept states that more than 100 acre-feet of water would be captured, infiltrated, and stored in local groundwater aquifers annually, benefiting the city and the Central Groundwater Basin. It describes the broader purpose as helping the city comply with its permit, assisting with local flood mitigation, restoring desired park facilities, and adding nature-based areas.

These figures describe the design concept. The agreement under consideration pays for design work, not a completed facility.

What changes are proposed for the park?

The proposal includes park restoration and improvements alongside the stormwater work.

The named upgrades are softball field lighting, reconstruction of a parking lot, native landscaping, new decomposed granite paths or trail, additional trees, and a nature-based bioswale. The staff report describes these as improvements that were otherwise not possible with previous funding under Measure S.

The report does not provide a final layout showing exactly where each feature would go. It also gives no park closure dates or schedule for access changes. Those details should not be assumed from the design award.

For another city’s storm drain project, see El Monte’s Merced Avenue storm drain project.

For another Downey proposal involving a site change, see Downey’s Dollison Drive townhome approval.

How is design funded, and what comes next?

The $1,310,458 design award would come through the Safe, Clean Water Program’s competitive Regional Program.

Voters passed the Safe, Clean Water Program ballot measure in 2018. The Independence Park project was selected through the program’s Call for Projects. If the transfer agreement is approved, the city would accept the award from the Los Angeles County Flood Control District for design purposes.

The agreement calls for a budget plan, community outreach, and completion of design and environmental clearance within five years. The City Manager or a designee would be authorized to execute non-substantive extensions, change orders, and amendments up to the authorized budget amount of $1,310,458.

The award is not a stated construction budget. At the end of the design phase, the city would need to apply to the Safe, Clean Water Regional Program for construction funding. The staff report provides no construction cost, construction start date, completion date, park closure schedule, or date for a construction funding decision.

Until the vote is confirmed and later steps occur, the project should be described as proposed.

What should a buyer or seller take from the proposal?

A buyer or seller should treat the proposal as a documented public project in the design funding stage, without assuming effects that the staff report does not claim.

The report says runoff would be collected from approximately 560 acres adjacent to Independence Park. It does not identify how many homes are within that area or list the streets included beyond the storm drains under Bellflower Boulevard and Dunrobin Avenue.

Nothing in the source states that the project changes a flood zone, flood insurance requirement, property assessment, or property value. It does not claim that any home will be removed from a flood zone.

For another local rule that may affect day to day parking near a Downey property, read about the Downey street sweeping exemption and parking fines.

A Downey owner asked us whether the Independence Park project meant nearby homes would no longer face any stormwater risk. He was encouraged by the planned improvements but wanted a guarantee the project could not provide. We discussed its intended function while keeping the property’s own drainage, elevation and insurance questions separate.

The short version

Downey proposed accepting $1,310,458 to design a runoff capture and infiltration facility at Independence Park.

The concept would collect stormwater and dry weather runoff from approximately 560 adjacent acres, directing it to an underground infiltration structure and a bioretention basin. The 2023 concept and feasibility study found that 4.5-acre-foot stormwater infiltration structures would be an optimum design. The staff report says more than 100 acre-feet of water would be captured, infiltrated, and stored annually in local groundwater aquifers.

The proposal also names park improvements, including softball field lighting, parking lot reconstruction, native landscaping, decomposed granite paths, additional trees, and a bioswale. The agreement would require a budget plan, community outreach, design, and environmental clearance within five years.

The award is for design only. Construction funding, construction dates, park closure details, and the council vote remain unconfirmed or unstated as of November 3, 2026.

If you own near the park, you can see what your home is worth with the home value tool.