Looking Back to Advance Forward: Historic Water Stewardship as a Foundation for Resilient Cultural Landscapes

Kirk Keller

Rancho Los Cerritos, a local state, and nationally registered historic landmark in Long Beach, California, offers a compelling answer. Originally established in 1844 and situated atop the historic "little hills" that gave the site its name, the Rancho has long relied on innovative water stewardship practices to survive drought and sustain its gardens. This presentation explores how Studio One Eleven transformed a broad directive from the Rancho’s 1999 Master Plan into one of the most innovative stormwater capture and reuse projects in the United States. The project captures and reuses up to 95 percent of on-site rainfall while preserving the cultural, ecological, and historic integrity of a nationally significant landscape. Participants will learn how historic preservation, indigenous knowledge, green infrastructure, and public interpretation were combined to create a replicable model for resilience that can be applied to historic and contemporary sites alike.