Group 2 : Public Safety Commission

The Public Safety Commission has as its responsibility the preservation of lives and property of the County. The Los Angeles River is under their jurisdiction. Over 50 years ago, work began on controlling the river by lining the riverbed with concrete and creating a flood control channel. It has done its job very well since completion, but lately, storms have threatened to send more water into the channel than it was built to hold. Some reasons for that threat are that more of the city is paved over (parking lots, shopping malls, etc.) so less water can infiltrate into the ground. Population is always on the increase here in the city, so more waste water is sent down the channel. Changes in storm patterns, such as the El Nino effect, have produced greater amounts of rainfall in shorter time periods.

The commission has begun to plan for the so-called "100 year flood" which is predicted to overpower the existing system. Plans include building a 1-8 foot wall on top of the sides of the channel from the juncture with the Rio Hondo through the lower reaches to the mouth of the river in Long Beach. Rationale for this plan is that communities downstream need to be protected in the event of a flood. It is not possible to go back in time to an earlier age when L.A. had ample open space to absorb floodwaters.

The most urgent need today and in the future is to get rid of the water that falls on Los Angeles in the fastest, most efficient way possible.