Los Angeles River

Los Angeles River, highlighted in red (on the left). The San Gabriel River is highlighted in red on the right

LA River in Los Angeles

The Los Angeles River starts in San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Mountains, and Santa Susana Mountains and flows through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the west end of the San Fernando Valley, 51 miles (82 km) southeast to its mouth in Long Beach. Several tributaries join the once free flowing and frequently flooding river, forming alluvial flood plains along its banks. It now flows through a concrete channel on a fixed course.

Environmental groups and park advocates support the removal of concrete and the restoration of natural vegetation and wildlife. There are also plans for a series of parks along the river's city frontage in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles River also flows through several Los Angeles County communities and has been featured in many Hollywood films.

Before the opening of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, the river was the primary source of fresh water for the city. Although the Los Angeles region still gets some of its water from the river and other local sources, most comes from several aqueducts serving the area. The river suffers pollution from agricultural and urban runoff.

Course

The Los Angeles River's official beginning is at the confluence of two channelized streams - Bell Creek and Arroyo Calabasas - in the Canoga Park section of the city of Los Angeles, just east of California State Route 27, at 34°11′43″N 118°36′07″W / 34.1952°N 118.601838°W / 34.1952; -118.601838. Bell Creek flows east from the San Gabriel Mountains and Arroyo Calabasas flows north from the Santa Monica Mountains. From there the river flows east through a concrete flood control channel and very soon receives Browns Canyon Wash, which flows south from the San Gabriel Mountains, from the left. The river then bends slightly south and receives Aliso Canyon Wash, whose watershed adjoins that of Browns Canyon, from the left. The river then flows into the city of Reseda and enters the Sepulveda Basin, a flood control reservoir formed by the Sepulveda Dam.^[1][2][3][4]

Looking east (downstream) at the Glendale Narrows. Unlike most of the river, this stretch has an earthen bottom.

As the river proceeds into the usually dry reservoir, it spills out into a channel that is similar to its historical, unchannelized form. It crosses under Balboa Boulevard and then passes through the outlet works of Sepulveda Dam, 43 miles (69 km) from the mouth. It flows again into a concrete channel and crosses under Interstate 405 as it passes through Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, and Studio City, still flowing east. Paralleling U.S. Highway 101 briefly, it then veers southeast, away from the highway, and receives from the left the Tujunga Wash, one of its largest tributaries, which flows southwest and south from the Angeles National Forest. The river then rounds a bend to the northeast, now in a concrete box culvert, and crosses under California State Route 170 and Highway 101, and receives Burbank Western Channel on the left bank, 39 miles (63 km) from the mouth.^[1][2][5][6]

The river then begins to parallel California State Route 134 as it winds past the city of Burbank and North Hollywood, then crosses under Interstate 5 and makes a sharp bend to the south-southeast as it curves around Griffith Park. It receives from the left Verdugo Canyon Wash, which drains much of La Cañada Flintridge and Glendale as it flows from the San Gabriel Mountains south through a water gap in the Verdugo Mountains, and crosses under State Route 134. Here, the river begin to flow over a natural riverbed, but enters another concrete section soon after. Paralleling Interstate 5 for the next few miles, the river runs by the eastern side of Griffith Park and the Harding-Wilson Golf Course. It passes Silver Lake Reservoir which is to the right, and crosses under California State Route 2, 32 miles (51 km) from the mouth.^{[1][2][7][8][9]}

Figueroa (Dayton Avenue) Bridge, showing the channelized river.

Making two meanders as it flows in a southeasterly direction, the river parallels the interstate and Riverside Drive then crosses under the interstate and California State Route 110 as it flows east of Elysian Park. It then receives the Arroyo Seco, another major tributary, from the left. The river flows south past the city of Mission Junction, passing a large railroad yard on the left. It enters a wider concrete channel with sloped sides, and crosses under Cesar Chavez Avenue, Highway 101, and Interstate 10 as it passes east of downtown Los Angeles, flowing past an interchange for Highway 101, California State Route 60, and Interstates 5 and 10 on the left. It then makes a gradual turn east and then turns southeast, flowing a few miles before it begins to parallel Interstate 710 near Maywood, Bell, and Commerce, 20 miles (32 km) from the mouth.^{[1][2][9][10]}

The Los Angeles River's wider channel near the mouth

Paralleling Interstate 710 south-southwest, the river then crosses under California State Route 42 and the interstate as it receives the Rio Hondo from the left, 9 miles (14 km) from the mouth. The Rio Hondo (deep river) now serves as a distributary for the San Gabriel River to the east via the Whittier Narrows Reservoir. The river then crosses under Interstate 105 and shifts slightly southwest, then flows east of Compton and west of Bellflower. After crossing under California State Route 91, it receives Compton Creek from the right, 2.7 miles (4.3 km) from the mouth. After crossing under Interstate 405 for the second time, 2 miles (3.2 km) from the mouth, it draws close to the Dominguez Channel to the west and flows due south to its outlet in Long Beach, under Interstate 710, past the RMS Queen Mary, and into the Port of Los Angeles.^{[1][2][9][11][12]}

History

The river provided a source of water and food for the Gabrielino Indians for hundreds of years prior to the arrival of the Spanish. The Gabrielinos were hunters and gatherers who lived primarily off the fish, small mammals and acorns from the abundant oak trees along the river's path. There were at least 45 Gabrielino villages located near the Los Angeles River, concentrated in the San Fernando Valley, and Elysian Valley in what is present day Glendale. In 1769, Gaspar de Portolà during his 1769 expedition of Alta California named it El Río de Nuestra Señora La Reina de Los Ángeles de Porciúncula, so translated: The River of Our Lady Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula. It was referred to as the Porciuncula River.

A 1903 flood inundates Compton, California

The river was originally an alluvial river that ran freely across a flood plain that is now occupied by Los Angeles, Long Beach, and other townships in Southern California. Its path was unstable and unpredictable, and the mouth of the river moved frequently from one place to another between Long Beach and Ballona Creek. In the early nineteenth Century, the river turned southwest after leaving the Glendale Narrows, where it joined Ballona Creek and discharged into Santa Monica Bay in present Marina del Rey. During a catastrophic flash flood in 1835, its course was diverted again to its present one, flowing due south just east of present-day downtown Los Angeles and discharging into San Pedro Bay. (Prior to another major flood in 1862, it was joined by the San Gabriel River in present-day Long Beach, but in that year the San Gabriel carved out a new course 6 miles (10 km) to the east, and has discharged into Alamitos Bay ever since.)

Until the opening of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, the Los Angeles River was the primary water source for the Los Angeles Basin, and much of its channel was dry except during the winter rains. Unpredictable and devastating floods continued to plague it well into the 1930s (most notably the catastrophic 1938 flood that precipitated the recall of corrupt^{[citation needed]} Los Angeles mayor Frank L. Shaw), leading to calls for flood control measures. The Army Corps of Engineers duly began an ambitious project of completely encasing the river's bed and banks in concrete, with only a trickle of water usually flowing down its middle. Ever since, it has primarily served as a flood control channel, fed by storm drains. The only portions of the river in which it is not completely paved over are in the flood control basin behind the Sepulveda Dam near Van Nuys; a 3-mile (5-km) stretch east of Griffith Park known as the Glendale Narrows; and along its last few miles in Long Beach.

Points of interest

A bridge over the river at Highland Park, in the spring

Sepulveda Basin is a flood-control basin to control floodwater runoff. Except for infrequent but dramatic flood episodes, this dry-land flood control basin, most of which is leased from the Corps by the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, plays host to diverse uses today including athletic fields, agriculture, golf courses, a fishing lake, parklands, a sewage treatment facility, and a wildlife reserve.

The Los Angeles River bicycle path runs through the Glendale Narrows and is accessible to the public at its north end at Riverside Drive, at Los Feliz Boulevard, and at its south end at Glendale Boulevard. The bike path runs parallel to the 5 freeway for the majority of its length and has mile markers and call boxes for information and safety purposes.

The river's southern stretch forms the heart of an industrial corridor stretching nearly unbroken from Lincoln Heights to Long Beach. In this area, the busy Long Beach Freeway (I-710) and several high-voltage power lines run within a few hundred feet of the riverbed. Several rail yards are located along the river's banks in this stretch, as well. Just outside of the industrial corridor lie some of the most densely populated cities in the state of California, such as the cities of Cudahy and South Gate; most of these cities are in the river's flood plain and experienced significant flooding prior to channelization.

Revitalization

Mallards on the river

One of the initiatives shepherded by the Ad Hoc River Committee is the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan. As a result of the Ad Hoc River Committee’s efforts, and with funding from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the City of Los Angeles’ Department of Public Works-Bureau of Engineering issued a Request for Proposals in 2005 for the preparation of a Revitalization Master Plan which would identify proposals that would make the Los Angeles River a “front door” to the City, and support a multitude of civic activities.

The 18-month revitalization planning process looked at improvements along the project area all aimed towards protecting wildlife, promoting the health of the river, and leveraging economic development. By the end of the planning process, a 20-year blueprint for development and management of the Los Angeles River was developed for implementation by the City of Los Angeles. The plan was officially adopted by the City of Los Angeles in May 2007.

Friends of the Los Angeles River (FoLAR) and other environmental groups have been advocating restoration of the river, creation of a wildlife corridor from the mountains to the sea and a radical change in the way rainwater on individual properties is dealt with.

The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, has a powerful State mandate to connect Elysian and Griffith Parks to the mountains. With an initial budget of $1,000,000, MRCA is evaluating the acquisition of properties to create parks and trails along the river between the two large parks. (See the article by Ester Feldman in the April '94 TPR).

The Los Angeles & San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council is a non profit organization that works with government agencies, business leaders, community groups and academics to facilitate an inclusive consensus process aimed at preserving, restoring and enhancing the social, ecological and economic health of the LA River and San Gabriel River watersheds through education, research and planning.

The California Coastal Conservancy, a state agency, published its Los Angeles River Park and Recreation Study in 1993, identifying potential projects along the river. In November 2005, Unpave LA sponsored a conference, 'Rethinking the River', to promote discussion of LA River management options.In 2006, Mayor Villaraigosa visited South Korea to look at their river restoration project, the Cheonggyecheon.

Riverside communities

Communities and cities along the banks of the Los Angeles River include:

Crossings

Crossings are listed from south to north.^[13]

In popular culture

Car race on the L.A. River from Grease

Numerous films and television programs have featured various sites along the Los Angeles River, many of which involve the river as a sinister plot location. Films involving the river include The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, Chinatown, Them!, Blue Thunder, Escape from L.A., Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Grease, Volcano, Point Blank, Freaky Friday (1976 film), Roadblock, Hot Rod Girl, Blood in Blood Out, Boomtown, Rize, The Core, Repo Man, The Italian Job, One Eight Seven, Point Break, Gone in 60 Seconds, Transformers, 24, The Gumball Rally, To Live and Die in L.A., The First Power, Purple Rain, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien and many others, including a skit on the show Jackass in which Johnny Knoxville tries to jump a section on roller blades, but breaks his ankle. Discovery Channel filmed scenes of The Colony in the Los Angeles River, where the participants drank water and ate fish from the river. Los Angeles River served as the starting line for the fifteenth season of The Amazing Race.

Several music videos have also been filmed at the Los Angeles River, including:

• "Better Life" - Keith Urban
• "Burnin' for You" - Blue Oyster Cult
• "Youth Against Fascism" - Sonic Youth
• "So Hard" - Voice of the Beehive
• "It's Funky Enough" - The D.O.C.
• "Life is.. Too Short" - Too Short
• "The River" - Good Charlotte
• "Down" - Blink 182
• "Got the Life" - Korn
• "Wake Up Call" - Maroon 5
• "Under the Bridge" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
• "Don't Cha" - Pussycat Dolls
• "Say I" - Christina Milian feat. Young Jeezy
• "Wherever You Will Go" - The Calling
• "Get It Shawty" - Lloyd
• "Live Your Life" - T.I. feat. Rihanna
• "Straight Through My Heart" - Backstreet Boys

A few video games also feature the Los Angeles River as a setting, including:

• True Crime: Streets of LA
• Midnight Club: Los Angeles

See also

• List of California rivers

References

Notes

Bibliography

• The Los Angeles River: Its Life, Death, and Possible Rebirth. Blake Gumprecht. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8018-6047-4.
• Eden by design: the 1930 Olmsted-Bartholomew plan for the Los Angeles region. Greg Hise & William Francis Deverell. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. ISBN 0-520-22414-0. ISBN 0-520-22415-9.
• Río L.A.: Tales from the Los Angeles River. Patt Morrison. Los Angeles: Angel City Press, 2001. ISBN 1-883318-24-6.
• Down By The Los Angeles River: Friends of the Los Angeles River's Official Guide Joe Linton. Berkeley: Wilderness Press, 2005. ISBN 0-89997-391-4.
• Hazardous Metropolis: Flooding and Urban Ecology in Los Angeles Jared Orsi. University of California Press, 2004. ISBN 0520238508.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Los Angeles River

• The Los Angeles River Master Plan
• Long Beach RiverLink, part of the San Pedro Bay Estuary Project.
• Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan and City Ad Hoc Committee.
• The Los Angeles River Tour
• Los Angeles & San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council
• The River Project
• F.O.L.A.R Friends of the Los Angeles River
• Friends Of Vast Industrial Concrete Kafkaesque Structures, a photo journal of photographs of the Los Angeles River flood control channel.
• The Los Angeles River Film, a 28-minute documentary film about the Los Angeles River including recent revitalization efforts.
• Saving the Los Angeles River