Unleash the L.A. River?
Dana Bartholomew
Daily News
10/13/2011
It took John Long a dozen years to stop the stream of condoms, beer bottles and garbage dumped by his house near the headwaters of the Los Angeles River.
So the Canoga Park homeowner wasn't thrilled to learn of plans to transform the massive concrete flood channel into a sylvan urban river park.
"To add park areas and benches is the stupidest thing they could do," said Long, 43, admiring the sheer convergence of Bell Creek and Arroyo Calabasas, so imposing it resembles the bow of a battleship.
"The last thing we need is to create another place for partygoers and vagrants."
But while Long lauded the massive flood channel that paved the way for nearly 75 years of San Fernando Valley development, officials met Wednesday to discuss plans to undo its blight.
At a state hearing in Studio City, lawmakers joined local, state and federal officials, community groups and river buffs to discuss ways to restore the city's greatest waterway.
At the heart of the three-hour hearing was the stark, mostly concrete 51-mile-long river that bisects the Valley, and the cold concrete tributaries tying it to surrounding hills.
Plans call for tearing out tons of concrete and replacing it with terraced tree-lined banks that link bikeways, parks and neighborhoods from Canoga Park to downtown.
"This could not only be an amazing recreational resource for the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles," said state Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, co-chair of the joint legislative hearing. "It's a cost-effective solution to our water supply and quality."
Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, D-Arleta, who also co-chaired the event, put it another way.
"There's an old yarn about Los Angeles: That it's the only city in the world where its river is paved and its streets aren't," he said to a packed room at CBS Studios. "Few can imagine the transformation of the L.A. River.
"And I realize we have a long way to go," he said.
To envision a regreening of a once-wild river that teemed with steelhead trout, engineers recounted the reason for its mostly concrete straightjacket.
In 1938, catastrophic floods killed 76 Angelenos, prompting the Army Corps of Engineers to turn it into a flood-control channel.
For decades, the trapezoidal channel was better known for graffiti-lined movie car chases than its potential as an L.A. Seine.
Then the Friends of the Los Angeles River held its first river cleanup in 1989, drawing 30 earnest volunteers. This year, an estimated 4,000 people turned out in the interest of reclaiming the river.
Governments followed suit, with county and city plans devoted to an all-new Southland waterway in the interest of capturing, storing and re-using its 330 million gallons a day of untreated water that flows out to sea.
And to create economic and recreational opportunities like redeveloped riverfronts in Denver or San Antonio.
"It's a dream come true, to see the layers of work and progress," said Councilman Ed Reyes, one of the largest L.A. River advocates. "The L.A. River is one of those elements that not only nurture life, but will lead to a rebirth of our city."
Progress has been made in Los Angeles, with such river projects as the Rio de Los Angeles State Park at Taylor yards and the Los Angeles State Historic Park at Cornfields.
The challenge has been harnessing many layers of bureaucracy that rule the river, from the Army Corps of Engineers to the county Department of Public Works, to myriad city, county and state agencies that control its banks.
Then there are newly formed agencies such as the L.A. River Revitalization Corp., a nonprofit agency founded by the city to spur economic growth, that add to the confusion.
"Could you please tell me again, what is it?" asked Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, addressing a corporation official. "So, what do you do again?"
But while Wednesday's hearing meant to recall river progress across the Valley, few could recall recent progress:
In 2007, Los Angeles County completed a $7 million greenway along Tujunga Wash in Valley Glen, with plans to begin a second phase next summer.
L.A. River greenways were improved between Studio City and Sherman Oaks, with input by local students.
And a hundred Pacoima Beautiful volunteers turned out in a downpour to spruce up the Pacoima Wash.
Meanwhile, kayakers have started dipping in for a recent limited "Paddle the L.A. River" tour.
While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has included the river in an urban river pilot project to create safe, healthy outdoor spaces, the Army Corps is studying the feasibility of removing concrete and restoring ecosystems.
The problem is money. California and Los Angeles have curtailed budgets and city park services have cut back.
And many city and state bonds are tapped.
"There's not a lot left," said Barbara Romero of the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, which helped the county build the greenway in Tujunga Wash. "At this point, we can't commit to additional projects, because the money is running out."
On hold are plans by Studio City residents to buy Weddington Golf & Tennis, hoping to preserve some of the last river open space from development with a sustainable urban park. The owner wants at least $60 million.
Also on hold are a $6 million Pacoima Spreading Grounds Riverwalk and a $50million Sun Valley Strathern Multi-Use Park.
And then there's the $7.4million L.A. River Headwaters Park in Canoga Park, with trails linking a series of pocket parks, replete with native landscaping and educational and interpretive signs.
"It's a slow process," said Alan Dymond, president of the Studio City Residents Association, and an advocate of a riverfront park there. "But you've got to start somewhere."
