LOS ANGELES — Up and down the Golden State, the ground is drenched, rivers are raging and there’s no end in sight, with more punishing rains expected this weekend and continuing into next week.

However, if that rainwater is not captured for re-use, the reprieve from drought conditions won’t last long.

LA Times’ Hayley Smith wrote about why most storm water goes to waste and joined Lisa McRee on “LA Times Today.”

“Of the estimated five to 10 billion gallons of water that have been flowing into LA with each of these storms, officials have been able to capture about 20% of that with the rest of it flowing straight out of LA and into the Pacific Ocean,” Smith said. 

Floods in the 1930s informed much of LA’s water infrastructure. Smith explained why early LA residents were more concerned with flood prevention than water conservation. 

“They were replacing grasses and landscape with concrete and things that were repelling water and rushing it into neighborhoods and potentially flooding them. So the response to that, ironically, was to lay more concrete and basically channelize all of the waterways in LA, including the LA River, to move that water away from homes and properties and out to sea. So, from a flood management perspective, it kind of works. But from a water capture one, it’s definitely less effective,” she said. 

In 2018, LA County voters passed Measure W, which directs funds toward water capture efforts. However, work on those projects has been slow, and a Times review shows that only a small portion of the funds have been distributed so far. The city of LA also has water capture projects in the works.

“One of the big ones is expanding their spreading ground facility in Tujunga, which is in the San Fernando Valley, and that’s doubled their ability to capture storm water there. When we talk about capturing it, we’re talking about letting more of the water percolate into the ground and replenish our aquifers. The Tujunga facility is actually part of a joint project where they’re also going to be treating some of that groundwater and putting it back into our drinking water supplies,” Smith elaborated.

Cleaning the dirty storm water is paramount to re-using it as drinking water. Water managers also have the challenge of keeping flood danger at the top of mind for Angelenos who are accustomed to water restrictions and drought conditions.

Watch the full interview above.

Watch "LA Times Today" at 7 and 10 p.m. Monday through Friday on Spectrum News 1 and the Spectrum News app.