“Portable Wetland for Southern California” combines science and artwork to explore methods of water reuse. (photo courtesy of Metabolic Studio)

As a part of several Getty “PST ART: Art & Science Collide” exhibitions, Lauren Bon and Metabolic Studio are presenting “Portable Wetland for Southern California,” a conceptual artwork and experimental proposal for ecological remediation at Brackish Water Los Angeles. Located on the California State University, Dominguez Hills campus in South Los Angeles, where local rivers have been transformed into concrete channels, and where industrial contamination and ecological racism have plagued surrounding communities for generations. The exhibition considers issues of access, inclusion, ecological racism and cultural/class system interchanges along Los Angeles’ waterways.

Portable Wetland for Southern California was initially developed by Bon and her studio as part of Bending the River, their ongoing infrastructural artwork that utilizes adaptive reuse and reconnects the city of Los Angeles with its original source of water, the Los Angeles River.

“By capturing the recycled water and urban runoff that travels in the river’s low-flow channel and returning it to the watershed by using it to irrigate the adjacent L.A. State Historic Park, we are rescuing a precious resource that would otherwise flow out to sea,” Bon said.

Wetlands are one of the most sophisticated water treatment systems that nature has ever created. They feature some of the highest levels of biodiversity found on earth and can remove many contaminants of concern, including metals, nutrients and bacteria. While wetlands are now protected by federal law, they have historically been undervalued and many natural wetlands were overtaken and destroyed by urban development – “Bending the River” aims to bring them back.

While traditional water treatments are still being used, this project presents a rare opportunity. Integrating a wetland component to the process mimics the wetlands that flourished on the historical floodplain of the L.A. Basin, while also taking advantage of native plants that have bio-adapted to thrive in oxygen-poor wetland soil. As the holder of the L.A. River’s first private water right, Bon has a responsibility for the stewardship of that water.

“When the river water passes through water treatment at Metabolic Studio, we can conduct real-world experiments, and demonstrate new ways to look at water conservation,” Bon said.

While Portable Wetland for Southern California is a conceptual artwork, it is also a scientific study. “We know that there is growing interest in dry-weather runoff capture and use, from the L.A. River and across California, and we hope that our exploration of biomimicry and habitat replication will show a way forward in a landscape irrevocably changed by climate change and industrialization,” Bon said.

For information, visit metabolicstudio.org.

CSU Dominguez Hills campus is located at 1000 E. Victoria St., Carson.