Elysian Valley L.A. River Walk/Bike Path Opens This Saturday

Volante por la dedicacion festival

The Elysian Valley segment of the Los Angeles River Bike Path is finally opening this Saturday! This project – a shared path for walking and bicycling - has been in the works and the courts since 1999, and “under construction” since June 2009. This Creek Freak will have to find other things to write about, no?

The grand opening is this Saturday December 4th 2011 from 10am to 2pm at Fletcher Drive and Crystal Street (warning for folks not familiar with the site - Ripple Street turns into Crystal – so the signal says Ripple.) The dedication ceremony is at 12noon. It’s billed as a walk/bike path grand opening and river festival! For information, see Council President Garcetti’s invitation flier – available in Spanish or English. 

rock, water, solid, fluid….

Sandstone formation at Devil's Punchbowl, Pearblossom

Recently,  I accompanied Altair Maine’s high school Geology class to the Devil’s Punchbowl formation in Pearblossom.  At Devil’s Punchbowl, the San Andreas fault forks into two branches, one of which goes right through the Punchbowl. Rock formations one side of the bowl angle toward the east. But on the other side of the fault, they angle toward the west. A tiny stream winds through the bottom of the bowl.

Mr. Maine showed us how the make up of the boulders around us reveals patterns caused by water flow ages ago. Layers of fine sediments were laid down during a period of peaceful steady water flow. Layers of coarse material such as large rocks, were deposited by distant flood events. All of the huge boulders around us revealed periods of peaceful water flow alternating with flood events.

Pattern of deposition of sediment in streambed at Hahamongna

One could even read the direction that water once flowed. When there are rocks in a stream, a hollow is eroded upstream from the obstacle, while a characteristic trailing bump forms downstream from it. With a practiced eye, one finds the same patterns embedded in sedimentary rock.

Over the past thirteen million years, these sediments once deposited by stream flow formed under pressure into rock. Thanks to relatively recent seismic events, all these layers of natural history were revealed like an open book to our tour group. I left with a sense of wonder at the relationship between things we think of as solid, and the things we think of as fluid.

New Greywater Report: Greyt Potential!

Pacific Institute's Overview of Greywater Reuse report - November 2010 - click to download 41-page pdf

Earlier this week, Los Angeles Times Greenspace tipped L.A. Creek Freak off to a new greywater report from the Pacific Institute. The new report is titled Overview of Greywater Reuse: the Potential of Greywater Systems to Aid Sustainable Water Management, released this month – November 2010. It’s available as a pdf download here.

If you’re not at all familiar with greywater, it refers to water from washing machines, sinks, bathtubs, etc. which isn’t clean enough to drink, but can be used to water landscaping. For some basic greywater background, read this article or watch this video.

Twain Historic Bridges Tours – December 3 and 10

1927 Seventh Street Bridge over the Los Angeles River - drawing from the Historic American Engineering Record

Starting next week, I am working with Metabolic Studio to host river bridges tours. Make a reservation today! AS OF 12/2/2010 BOTH TOURS ARE FULL – still accepting a few standbys in case of cancellation, though. I am hoping to do a few more of these in 2011!

The Metabolic Studio Twain Tour:
L.A. Creek Freak Historic Bridges Excursion

This December, the Metabolic Studio teams up with L.A. Creek Freak for a new installment in its “The Twain” Trolley tours. The December tours will showcase a dozen of Los Angeles’ iconic historic downtown bridges. These monumental City Beautiful bridges, over the Los Angeles River and in Downtown L.A., were built between 1906 and 1932 and represent a hopeful forward-looking moment in the city’s history of growth and expansion. Many of the beautiful concrete-arch spans are targeted for demolition; this tour will spur conversations on the bridges’ significance – past and future.

Downloadable “creekwatch” application

Doing the rounds recently is this link to a free Creek Watch application for iPhones and iPods, developed by IBM. It allows users to upload a photo and data to a common map, recording data about flow, trash, or other observations. Developed for the State Water Control Board, most of the posted observations seem to be in the Bay Area. Let’s get some LA sites on the map!

Thanks to the various folks who forwarded this link to me, including Boyd Waters and Karina Johnston.

News and Events – 20 November 2010

Help plan the future of Los Angeles State Historic Park. Click for full flier and announcement at LASHP website.

> Ever wonder when State Parks would create that “world class park” at the Cornfields? The long-stalled planning process for the master plan at Los Angeles State Historic Park is getting underway again.  Due to state budget issues, finalizing of the preliminary designs never happened, and the “interim public use” park at the site has been looking a bit less interim. Attend a community meeting about the future of the park on Thursday December 9th at 7pm at L.A. Conservation Corps, 1400 N. Spring Street, L.A. 90012.

> Ever wonder what the western United States might have looked like if state boundaries followed watersheds? (Well, not even we creek freaks actually wonder that, but I thought it sounded good.) Take a look at John Wesley Powell’s proposed map of watershed-based western states (via Big Think.) Thanks to Melanie Winter of The River Project for bringing this to our attention.

>Ever wonder about the future of that river-adjacent vacant area between the 4th and 6th Street bridges downtown? Blogdowntown, in an article entitled Nothing is Simple Down by the River, tells about competing plans for a jeans factory, expanded Metro rail operations, and a river park.

>Ever wanted to tell your L.A. River story? Join KCET Departures’ story share on Saturday December 4th.

> Ever wanted to get paid to write about the Los Angeles River? The city of Los Angeles’ recently formed River Revitalization Corporation might have a web writer/editor job for you – especially if you’re a “jack [or perhaps jill?] of all trades” good at “weblinking” and “photo cropping.” Respond to this part-time job posting at Craigslist:

A Los Angeles based non-profit corporation is looking for a part-time website supervisor who is a writer, editor, photo editor and more. We are launching in January a new website that is all about the Los Angeles River: a recreational guide, photo gallery, revitalization information, news, event guide, etc. The candidate should be self-motivated, able to work at home, set their own schedules and deadlines, a skilled web pro, a careful content checker and a totally responsible professional. A minimum of two years of writing and editing of professional consumer publications and two years of website creation/maintenance experience is required. The candidate should be proficient in maintaining websites, including using CMS tools, weblinking, photo cropping, resizing, and uploading. This jack of all trades will be doing the primary website supervision, updating, user content review, blog supervision, news linking and more. You will need three professional references and a salary history.

Passion and experience with outdoor recreation and/or the L.A. River is real plus.

•Compensation: Monthly salary to be negotiated once the time requirements are better understood.
•This is a part-time job.

Read the full ad and respond here. L.A. Creek Freak is looking forward to many more L.A. River websites! The more the merrier!

Green Street Sidewalks in Downtown L.A.

When Creek Freak posted our article about the city of Los Angeles’ recent Riverdale green street project, we received a comment from AHBE – a landscape architecture and environmental design firm located in Culver City, headed by Calvin Abe. I’ve been aware of AHBE from their support of Friends of the L.A. River, their creative contributions to Park(ing) Day and their rain garden projects – shown in more detail below. AHBE’s video (above) gives a good context for green streets, then profiles North East Trees‘ Oros Street and AHBE projects downtown and proposed for South L.A.

Congratulations: River Expeditions, Elmer Avenue, and more!

Recent recognition for some of Los Angeles’ creek freak heroes:

Click to go to the L.A. River Expeditions website where you can sign up for future expeditions

> The American Canoe Association (ACA) has awarded its annual Green Paddle Award to George Wolfe and L.A. River Expeditions. George was the leader of the 2008 boating expedition down the Los Angeles River that proved critical in securing federal Clean Water Act protections.  The national non-profit ACA in its press release stated:

“The American Canoe Association is extremely proud to recognize George and L.A. River Expeditions for their significant accomplishments,” says ACA Chief Operating Officer Chris Stec. “They have set a great example for the nation.”

Elmer Avenue Project - photo by LASGRWC

> The California Stormwater Quality Association (CASQA) presented its Outstanding Stormwater BMP [Best Management Practice] Implementation Project award to the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council for its Elmer Avenue Neighborhood Retrofit Demonstration project. Elmer Avenue is an excellent project – the kind that we creek freaks like to go and visit in the rain!! CASQA also recognized Santa Monica’s Bicknell Avenue green street, the city of Los Angeles’ Stormwater Public Education Program (which also received recognition from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies), and others. Read the full CASQA awards recap here.

Congratulations to George, the Watershed Council, and the cities of Santa Monica and Los Angeles!

L.A. County Bans Plastic Bags

Plastic bags caught in trees in the Los Angeles River's Glendale Narrows - photo from Nature Trumps

Today, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 to ban plastic bags. The ban takes effect July 2011, and only applies to unincorporated county areas, including East L.A., Altadena, Rancho Dominguez, Hacienda Heights, and similar unincorportated locations. It does not apply to cities within the county, including Los Angeles, Long Beach, etc. This is great news, given the way that plastic bags plague our urban creeks and rivers. Creek Freak doffs our cap to Supervisors Molina, Ridley-Thomas and Yaroslavsky who passed the county ban.

Read more bag ban specifics at Spouting Off and the Los Angeles Times.

KPCC Video Showcases Creek Freak

KPCC everyday hero video focus on river, greywater, rainwater gardens, and eco-village. Click to watch video at KPCC Pacific Swell website.

LACF mentioned earlier that Southern California Public Radio KPCC, on its Pacific Swell website, acknowledged L.A. Creek Freak’s Joe Linton as an everyday hero. They also did a video portrait of me, featuring the L.A. River, my home laundry greywater system, rainwater harvesting terraces in my (neglected) garden, and Los Angeles Eco-Village where I live. Click to watch the latest creek freak video!