Saturday, September 14, 2013

LA River: A Whole Lot of Stuff Going On

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 23, 2013.  North Broadway Street Bridge crossing the LA River with Elysian Park in the background.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

The Army Corps of Engineers released its feasibility study for ecological restoration of a good portion of the LA River between Griffith Park & Lincoln Heights (thus signaling real estate speculators where the next hot markets will be).
Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 23, 2013.  Photo op.

Expect even more PR in the coming month about the river, as City, County, State agencies & all manner of organizations wanting a piece of the river pie, trying to get the public to say, "Yes, we want this to happen," so the Federal government will kick in a big chunk of money.  So far, I've seen about dozen announcements and press releases that say very little, other than, read a 500+ page report & comment by November 5, 2013 & go to some community meetings in October. 

I'm not for or against this, I just want simple information.  After 10 years of studying the river you'd think they could give us a 90 day window & some simple 1-page fact sheets. 

Word from Friends of the LA River (FoLAR): In the Study, the Army Corps discusses plans 10, 13, 16 & 20.  The Corps has tentatively chosen Alternative 13.  River advocates are pushing for Alternative 20.

Alternative 13, estimated cost, $453 million: The Eastsider

You can sort through it yourself:

City of Los Angeles, LA River Revitalization
Army Corps of Engineers DRAFT LA River Ecological Restoration Study