The river endures the impact of the hundreds of thousands of people who live near its banks, and the millions who live in its watershed. Trash in our streets and storm drains ends up there. Homeless live there. Taggers spray paint there. However the greatest issue facing the river today is the Army Corps of Engineers flood control plan which would extend the height of the concrete walls along the lower section of the river at a cost of from $300-$400 million. Most of the walls would be 2 ft. high, reaching a maximum of 8 ft. This plan lead the national organization American Rivers to proclaim the L.A. River as the most endangered urban river in North America is 1995.

Every spring the Friends of the Los Angeles River, FoLAR, organizes thousands of students and citizens to clean up the Los Angeles River. Often over 30 tons of trash, shopping carts, tires, appliances and broken furniture are collected. Find out what it is like to participate as students from T.S. King Middle School write on their experiences during the 7th annual river clean up.

Lewis MacAdams founded FoLAR in 1986 in an effort to see if the river could meet other public needs beyond just flood control. Since then FoLAR and groups like the Sierra Club and Heal the Bay have proposed more parks along the river, more bike trails, restoring some natural habitat, in addition to maintaining safe flood control functions. They oppose the plan to construct the multi-million dollar flood control wall for being too limited in its view of the functions of what an urban river can serve.

Of course the concrete channelization of the river itself is the most dramatic example of human impact and control of the river. The organization American Rivers claims the L.A. River, " ...is lined with more concrete than any other river in the U.S." During recorded history the river rarely stayed on one course for more than a few decades. Several times throughout the last two centuries it has changed directions and drained to the west, near the present day Marina Del Rey, or drained at San Pedro.
Some storm drain covers north of Los Feliz are visible from the 5 Freeway. Graffitti covers these shown here. A few of these covers have been decorated as "cats" by taggers.

Non-native plants and animals, whether introduced intentionally by people or by accident, have taken their toll on the river's environment. Plants like arundo and castor bean compete for limited space and push out native plants in the few areas where the river has a natural bottom. Introduced animals such as crayfish and mosquitoe fish prey on the native frog and toad population. The impact of human activity is not always obvious or intentional.

The river does provide some recreation. Bike trails have been established along the lower sections of the river and are planned for the area above downtown. Horseback riding is available along the river near Los Feliz and further south near Rio Hondo. However one hundred years ago there were intentions to include recreation along the river when "Col. Griffith J. Griffith gave over five miles of riverfront property to the city on Dec. 16, 1896 with the expectation that Griffith Park would become a grand riverfront park (although the city initially wanted the land more for the water rights). Since that time, the Golden State and Ventura freeways were built on the south and west banks of the river on Griffith Park land ... easily the most destructive blow ever inflicted on the park".19 The Park, Beach, and Recreation Initiative was passed in 1996 and will provide funding to help create the L.A. River Greenbelt. The Los Angeles River Master Plan is a wetlands restoration project developed by the California Whatershed Projects Inventory (CWPI).

Continue the tour here. So batten down your hard drives and cover your keyboards. The adventures of the urban river awaits you. Good Luck and remember, don't drink the water!

Yes! I like the Los Angeles River Virtual Tour, but my socks are wet and my feet are cold, so I would like to learn more about . . .

Copyright © 1995 Target Science