The Reimagining of the LA River
Abstract
The LA River Master Plan includes parks, trails and other infrastructure to enhance communities along the waterway. The expanse of the Los Angeles River channel provides an opportunity for community events such as the SELA Arts Festival, held annually in the river channel in the city of South Gate. While there are plans to enhance sections of the river with natural landscapes and develop side channels with natural environments, the main course of the river will remain paved. Maintaining the current flood capacity of the river with a natural river course would be impossible without a massive land acquisition program to acquire the real estate needed to widen the channel sufficiently. Given the lack of a comprehensive element to remove the concrete bed and restore the natural course of the river, several key environmental groups-including several members of the plan's steering committee-withdrew their support for the master plan on the eve of its approval by the Board of Supervisors in June."The Plan affirmatively reiterates the LARMP team's antiquated and harmful position that the LA River is nothing more than a flood control channel, and that nature-based solutions to remove concrete and remediate contaminated land are infeasible," the group said in a letter to the board. In areas of the lower river, which tend to be less affluent and more susceptible to flood risks, "The community wholeheartedly pushed back on the idea of naturalizing the river," he explains. From Plan to ProjectsThe LA River Master Plan contains provisions for parks and other river-adjacent amenities intended for communities located along the channel.