Bush regime attack on L.A. Rivers is overturned...

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Feds Restore protection to the L.A. River

Plus State officials announce the purchase of 4 acres along a tributary to the L.A. River known as Compton Creek

The deletion of protection for all but 4 miles of the L.A. River by the federal regulators was in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened wetlands protection laws, and locally it was part of an attempt to help landowners in the canyons that ring the L.A. basin to develop and fill in these canyons. Rare Earth News reported on this in 2008, concerning landowner Wayne Fishbacks's plans to develop the top of Browns Canyon in Chatsworth:
http://rare-earth-news.blogspot.com/2008/06/what-looks-like-river-but-isnt-sneak.html

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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-compton-creek-20100708,0,7714848.story

7/8/2010--U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on Wednesday declared the entire concrete-lined Los Angeles River channel "traditional navigable waters," a designation crucial to applying Clean Water Act protections throughout its 834-square-mile urban watershed.
...Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas would not argue with any of that. At the news conference he announced the purchase of a four-acre portion of the Compton Creek riverbed devastated by decades of storm runoff and illegal dumping.

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FOR MORE:
http://lacreekfreak.wordpress.com/2010/07/07/big-newsepa-designates-l-a-river-as-navigable/

Rex Frankel Says:
July 7, 2010 at 10:40 pm | Reply
I thought it was up to the Army Corps of Engineers to declare whether the river is navigable or not. I don’t know if the river is actually protected yet until the Army Corps makes this declaration. They are the ones that always issue permits to fill in “waters of the USA”, so I’m a little concerned that this isn’t the end of this battle.

• Joe Linton Says:
  July 8, 2010 at 12:03 am | Reply Rex – The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is responsible for the initial designation (which they did and determined that only 4 miles of the L.A. River were, in their determination navigable.) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can override the USACE. Once the EPA overrides the USACE, then the USACE issues permits, based on the EPA’s determination. The USACE and EPA stood together today and said the river is navigable, so it doesn’t look like there will be any more “battle” specific to that.
  There may still be some issues to work out relative to tributaries. Protected waters must have a “significant nexus” to a protected waterbody… EPA guidance on this is a bit vague. I seem to recall them saying that within 5 miles there’s definitely a nexus, and further than that, it’s not a clear call… so if a party wants to alter a small tributary at a point 5.5 miles from the L.A. River… it’s unclear (probably subject to legal dispute) whether that portion of that tributary is actually fully protected by the Clean Water Act.
  

A River Parkway across the Pacific

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What Removing Concrete from our Rivers Can Look Like

http://lacreekfreak.wordpress.com/2009/04/24/daylighting-in-the-heart-of-seoul-the-cheong-gye-cheon-project/

pictures of "daylighting" a river running through the middle of Seoul, South Korea. The river was formely covered by a freeway...

San Joaquin River Parkway

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Drawing a Northerly Limit to the Sprawl of Fresno

http://www.sjrc.ca.gov/ --State Agency buying up land

http://www.riverparkway.org/ --a private group helping out...

Threats to an Orange County River Parkway

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Will a Pristine Canyon in South Orange County be Modified to Clean up Urban Runoff Pollution from Upstream Developments?

http://www.lagunagreenbelt.org/page15/page15.html

24 small dams proposed in Aliso canyon park in OC

http://www.lagunagreenbelt.org/page1/page4/alisocreek.html

1. The SUPER project doesn't address the volume and water quality of runoff from up-stream cities. It just allows the impact of those excessive and polluted flows to impact the "wilderness" park. The natural flow patterns of the stream are being sacrificed to this out-of-control run-off.
2. The plan involves leaving in place the existing concrete dam that has caused much of the present erosion problem.
3. There is a series of check dams which are described to be only 2' tall, but the foundation for these is designed to go all the way to bedrock. Since this is a deep alluvial valley, that could be 20' down or more. If erosion occurs below and around these dams, the full height of these dams could be exposed. Also with a big flood, the dams could fail and end up on the beach in pieces after destroying vegetation and improvements
along the way.
4. The plan includes constraining the creek between reinforced banks on both sides. This is channelization, but the project proponents don't use these words. So the stream will no longer meander, and horseshoe bend will never be restored.
5. Water quality is only addressed at the mouth of the creek with a UV treatment system. It should be addressed before run-off enters the stream, at the outlets (Aliso Viejo has installed a prototype), and all along the stream by allowing the stream to flow the longest possible distance through wetlands vegetation.

A River Parkway in Sacramento...

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5000 Acre River Park Runs through the heart of California's Capital City

http://www.arpf.org/index.shtml
American River Parkway Foundation

The American River Parkway in Sacramento—over 5000 acres were purchased by Sacramento County and other agencies since 1962. The portion between the confluence with the Sacramento River and Hazel Blvd is owned by the County. East of Hazel Blvd. to the Folsom Dam is owned by the federal government.

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L.A. and San Gabriel River Trails Report is Available Now

8/7/2008
We are pleased to announce the continuation of the Golden Necklace Project by the Cal Poly Pomona URP 431/432 Summer/Fall 2008 Community Planning Studio, the undergraduate capstone course.

The Golden Necklace Final Report, produced in Jun 2008 by the previous class, the URP 641/642 Winter/Spring 2008 Graduate Planing Studio, is now available on the Golden Necklace website (www.arroyoseco.org/goldennecklace). This report includes studies, findings, design visions, charrette feedback, and stakeholder information.

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October 2 & 4--L.A. River Restoration Events:

ISAR RIVER EXPERTS VISIT “SISTER” L.A. RIVER
Munich Shares Lessons of Successful River Restoration
at Public Forum & L.A. River RioFest

http://folar.org/?p=271

WHAT:
Los Angeles welcomes a delegation from Munich that successfully shepherded the restoration of its own industrialized river, the Isar, into a “re-naturized” resource that provides both flood control and recreation. Highlights of the visit will include a free public forum to study how the lessons of the Isar might be applied to the Los Angeles River, and FoLAR’s RioFiest, which will celebrate the Isar River and local heroes with live music, food and a Bavarian beer garden on the Sixth Street Bridge.

WHO:
River advocates from Munich meet their L.A. counterparts: politicians, planners, designers, engineers, grass roots organizers, and enthusiasts; Goethe-Institut Los Angeles/German Cultural Center; Friends of the Los Angeles River.

WHEN:
Isar Meets the L.A. River: A Case Study on How to Renaturize a River
Thursday, October 2, 6 p.m.

FoLAR RioFest & Rivvie Awards
Saturday, October 4, 6:30 p.m.

WHERE:
Case Study: Dept. of Water & Power
111 North Hope Street, L.A. 90012

RioFest: Sixth Street Bridge
Sixth Street at the Los Angeles River

COST:
Case Study — Free to the public
RioFest — $50

INFO:
For reservations for the Case Study, the public may call Goethe-Institut at (323) 525-3388 or Friends of the L.A. River at (323) 223-0585. For RioFest information, call (323) 223-0585.

WHY:
Much like the Los Angeles River, the Isar has a history of heavy flooding; indeed, its name appears to be derived from the Celtic Isaria, meaning “torrential.” In the early 20th century, with the construction of several power plants, the river was engineered into a linear path, giving the city an economic boost but seriously harming the river’s alpine character, accessibility and vegetation. And in many parts of Munich, the rigid walling-in did not provide effective flood control.

In 1995, a working group, Isar-Plan, was founded with the goal of returning the river to a natural and usable state. Comprised of citizens, grass roots organizations, and local and state experts, Isar-Plan began its restoration of the river in 2000. Thus far, eight miles of the Isar have been “re-naturized.” As the river wends past flowered meadows, the citizenry of Munich sunbathes along sandy banks, picnics under shade trees, bicycles along gravel paths and cools off in the river’s waters. Surfers even make use of the rapids! A fishway has been built to promote the upstream migration of aqautic life, and fishermen enjoy their sport here. And the major storm “Norbert” in 2005 — the biggest rainfall in 50 years — had no flood impacts on the city.

Once the home to steelhead, grizzlies, willows and sycamores, the Los Angeles River was the city’s birthplace and our region’s original source of water. Six decades after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started encasing the river in concrete to prevent flooding, the City of Los Angeles faces an unprecedented opportunity to reverse the past. Adopted by City Council in 2007, the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan sets forth a bold vision to create a greenway with parks, walkways, bikepaths and restored wetlands along 32 miles of the river. Like the Isar River before it, the L.A. River still faces many challenges before it can be transformed into a source of civic pride and pleasure.

Press contact:
Katie Klapper
(323) 874-9667
katie@katieklapper.com