The Los Angeles River returns as a valueable asset for Los Angeles and Southern California.

At an estimated cost of about $2 billion, the rejuvenation of the Los Angeles River could become an invaluable catalyst for the redevelopment and revitalization of the Los Angeles region, as well as an important factor in the future growth of Southern California. But there is probably no greater challenge in urban waterways regeneration than the graffiti and trash-lined concrete channel whose steep drop-off facilitates getting rid of seasonal floodwaters that form torrents as they roar through LA to Long Beach and the Pacific Ocean.

Fed by a watershed that includes the Santa Monica, San Gabriel, and Santa Susanna Mountains, the LA River is also the receiver of runoff from commercial, industrial, and urban residential activity – everything from lawn fertilizer to dumped automobile engine oil, most of which sits for most of the year in the channel until the three-month seasonal rain arrives to flush it into the Pacific Ocean. It represents the industrialization of a river as perhaps no other waterway.

The Los Angeles River became the Los Angeles River Flood Control Channel in 1938 as a way of coping with the enormous runoff of rain that quickly saturated the soil or simply poured over the paved areas. Over the next 30 years, the river was an unattractive concrete channel, covered in some sections, fenced in others . . . an eyesore that cried out to be improved, enhanced, and beautified. The same fate befell its tributaries. Most Angelenos are likely unaware that the river is fed by a dozen creeks as it flows 52 miles from its headwaters in Canoga Park where Bell and Calabasas Creek converge, through Glendale, South Los Angeles and into Long Beach.

In 2004, after years of raising awareness to the multiple economic losses and urban decay caused by the degenerated riverfront, the city of Los Angeles embraced the task of reclaiming its river. It would set in motion a multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary process that is planned to remove much of the river channel concrete, using the scrap for other purposes, and creating a sustainable natural flood channel that can handle, at peak flow, “the equivalent of 40 million garden hoses going full blast.

“The Los Angeles River, the birthplace of the city of Los Angeles, is a valuable resource to our city,” states LA City Councilman Ed Reyes, who has spearheaded the comprehensive revitalization of the LA River, “yet most people cannot see it, let alone enjoy the opportunities the river presents.”

With the vision and leadership of Reyes and other city, county, and state officials, the LA City Council approved the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan (LARRMP) earlier this year, establishing a 20-50 year blueprint for revitalization of the Los Angeles River that encompasses the 32 miles of the river within the city. The mission is to guide future recreational, stormwater management, and other developments associated with the river’s revitalization in the coming years.

A massive project, the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan identifies 239 improvement projects along the river within the city boundaries. They include everything from pocket parks to creating more than 4,600 housing units. Implementing all of the projects envisioned by the LA River plan could cost more than $2 billion and the initial phases are expected to cost $50  to $100 million. The revitalization project will be managed by three entities: a river authority, a revitalization corporation, and a river foundation. Funds are expected to come from three sources: governmental, entrepreneurial, and philanthropic.

One of the key planning objectives of the revitalization plan, according to city officials, is to “soften” the river and make it more attractive for people and their activities. The plan envisions such community uses as parks, recreational areas, and public facilities, as well as residential and commercial development within the river’s sphere of influence. With a high value placed on creative thinking, one way being studied to soften the river is to install a series of rubber dams that will slow the river current, providing for a more consistent flow of water and allowing greater use of the river’s edge for public use.

Speaking earlier this year at the American Planning Association (APA) national conference, Gary Lee Moore, LA’s city engineer, said the revitalization plan would seek to create a sustainable living and working environment along the LA River that will embrace both public and private uses.

“The city has already embarked on landmark programs using state-of-the-art technologies and practices to provide alternative sources of clean energy, water conservation, and pollution prevention,” Moore told attendees at a workshop on the LA River. “The plan showcases and enhances sustainable technologies, such as water-saving devices, native tree plantings and use of permeable surfaces to preserve underground water.”

As important as great urban planning, creative thinking and sustainability are to developing and revitalizing the river, so too is including stakeholders input in an effective and meaningful way. Perry Cardoza, whose firm, NUVIS landscape architecture and planning, created the plan for the Studio City Greenway, a new LA River park that is a component of the revitalization program, says reaching out to local residents and creating a positive atmosphere for the park project was a major objective and challenge

To connect with a diverse population of LA stakeholders, Cardoza, who was also a speaker at the APA workshop, said the park design team worked hand-in-glove with a neighborhood oversight committee, which consisted of a group of many stakeholders, but at one meeting there were more than 100 representatives from the community. Most were in favor of the efforts, but there were concerns about issues such as property values, crime, design, and amenities that needed to be discussed and resolved.

“Stakeholders who participated in the public input process had strong ideas about the park design, especially about recreation and how public space should be devoted to recreation,” he explains.  He notes that public input is a necessary and worthwhile step to establish consensus on project concept and design.

Vaughan Davies, a principal with the LA office of EDAW, Inc., and head of the land planning firm’s urban design initiative, says the LA River has “good bones” and offers the opportunity to create something special for the city and all of Southern California. Davies, another speaker at the APA workshop, pointed out that historically rivers that run through urban areas have been ignored or abused. But more recently cities such as Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Washington, D.C. have been turning their attention and resources on how to clean up their rivers and waterfronts to make them a valuable community asset.

Davies notes that other cities across the country which have implemented successful water regeneration projects include San Antonio, Texas, Riverwalk; Charles River Master Plan in Boston, Massachusetts; and the Allegheny Riverfront in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Internationally, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin and London are a few of the world-class cities that have undertaken comprehensive programs to revitalize their urban rivers and waterfronts.

“Water is gold that creates value,” Davies exclaims. “The challenge is how do we take the water back?” He says there are five principles to revitalizing a water asset such as a river or waterfront: 1) start with a specific water plan, 2) integrate and enhance existing resources into the plan, 3) rely on successful precedence from other areas, 4) put emphasis on public spaces, and 5) get started implementing the plan in 3-5 years. “Any longer than that, and the powers that be will want to start over and redesign the plan because too much will have changed,” he notes. “Delay could result in a perpetual cycle of planning.” SLDT