How fun it is, to find your blog included as a link to the likes of the New York Times in this Dot Earth blog A River Runs Under It!
Ego-boost aside, this is a great story covering the issues and locales of stream and river daylighting. Angelenos who may be accustomed to singling our city out for its environmentally destructive water practices will be surprised or perhaps perversely relieved to learn that in fact, stream culverting (piping) is an age-old practice. Case in point (not mentioned in the story), Alfred Foord’s 1911 Springs, Streams and Spas of London noted that its rivers and streams were covered there starting in the Middle Ages.
And if it has taken Londoners a few centuries to move from culverting to daylighting, then I guess a little patience with LA is warranted. Although the Dot Earth piece shows that other cities are actually daylighting and restoring their rivers. And for the price of policing the Michael Jackson memorial service we could have restored a stream. So get on with it already. We’ve got plenty of waterways to work on.
Hmmm, did I just pledge a little patience?
Tags: Dot Earth blog, London, Los Angeles, New York Times, stream daylighting
August 11, 2009 at 8:33 am |
Hello,
I read your piece in the times that directed me to your blog.
As another Half-Mexican, Caucasian looking Los Angeleno, who grew up in Highland Park, reading your blog took me back to my childhood exploring the Arroyo Seco.
For some unknown reason, my father got rid of our television in 1957. While my peers were enjoying the delights of late-afternoon kids shows, I found myself exploring the small streams and creeks that flowed out of Mount Washington.
Coming from a family of fishermen, it was amazing how much
aquatic life could thrive, irregardless of the season and I can recall among the tadpoles,frogs, and salamanders, native fish
surviving into late August and September, in the ever decreasing pools.
Sincerely,
David Hidalgo
August 11, 2009 at 9:16 am |
Thank you, David, for your recollections! Wish we had you at our Tales of the Arroyo night!