Sexiest flood film ever

Click to connect to video.

Yes, you did just read that title. Follow the link for the sexiest flood film I’ve ever seen. Is it the music? The split screens? The way the trees slowly give way to the floodwaters? I don’t actually have a destruction fetish, so I dunno, but it’s quite a seductive little movie.

I know, it’s in Oregon, not Los Angeles. But following the razing of the oak woodland in Arcadia, expect more and then more commentary, visual and historical reflection, etc on the value of functioning floodplains, sediment transport and our flood control system.

Exhibit A: road vs. river at flood stage. Guess who’s taking back some floodplain?

Thanks to E. Stromberg for forwarding the link.

Sam Shepard’s Sad San Gabriel River

Cruising Paradise by Sam Shepard, paperback published by Vintage Books, 1997

Here’s a passage from Sam Shepard’s short story Cruising Paradise in the book of the same name (published 1996) – a book I rediscovered recently and I recommend. This passage, I am pretty sure, is describing the concrete San Gabriel River, though he refers to it as an aqueduct. Two friends are disposing of a partially burned mattress:

We took off with the mattress flopping on the roof and headed west past the Irwindale rock quarry, following the old Baseline Road through lemon groves and vineyards. The honeyed smell of lemon blossoms seemed confusing right then. The strange fear I was carrying didn’t seem to mix with the surrounding nature: a mockingbird in full raucous song; the pulsing mist of irrigated rain. The loud headers on the flathead Merc rumbled through the floorboards, out into the immaculate aisles of lemon trees and oranges. I had a definite sense of somehow being a passenger in an evil vehicle cruising through Paradise. I had no idea how I’d come to be there. A coyote ducked off between the trees and headed for a deep ditch: a beautiful red coyote with a big ruff. He turned toward us and stopped a second, taking in the chopped and channeled Mercury with a burnt mattress flapping on the roof, then slipped away between the smudge pots and rain birds.

We turned off at Fish Canyon and drove up a gravel washboard road toward the Flood Control Aqueduct – a huge concrete serpent that swooped down from the San Gabriels and made its way to the desert. I’d never seen more than a trickle of water in it. The only flood I’d seen was in pictures of Alabama. I’d heard the main function of the aqueduct these days was as a dumping ground for murder victims from L.A., but I never saw a body in it either. Crewlaw pulled the Merc right up to the edge of the concrete canyon and jumped out. He paced a little up and down the edge of the aqueduct, staring out across the manzanita and yucca brush then lit a Lucky Strike and turned back to me. “Let’s get this thing done,” he said, and went straight to the mattress and started unwinding the wire, as his cigarette bopped up and down between his lips. I helped him without asking what he had in mind.

Recent News – 19 January 2011

> Watch this excellent video One Plastic Beach; it’s about Northern California artists Judith Selby Lang and Richard Lang who create beautiful art out of massive amounts of plastic that was ashore. They make an eloquent critique of plastic pollution in our oceans. Also check out the artists’ website and blog. Thanks filmmakers Eric Slatkin and Tess Thackara. (h/t Jackie Wei)

> Meredith McKenzie has been blogging up a storm over at ArroyoLover. Read her latest posts on:

• County-City Los Angeles River Cooperation Committee meets and plans to work together on the L.A. River / Aliso Creek Confluence park project, in Reseda.
• Wrap-up of news on Albion Dairy site, CRA NELA River Corridor Study Area, Cornfield-Arroyo Seco Specific Plan, February 10th 2011 city river meeting in Reseda, and April 30th 2011 mayoral day of service on the L.A. River. 

> Public comments on Universal’s Draft Environmental Impact Report are due by February 4th 2011. I haven’t paid close enough attention to this item (guest blogger invitation!), but, my understanding is that the situation hasn’t changed much since this 2008 L.A. Times article covered studio opposition to the L.A. River bike path. There’s no website for public comments. If you want to get in touch with folks let us know via comments below.

> North East Trees blog reports on construction activity at their Garvanza Park rainwater harvesting project.

> Travelin’ Local reports on three Elysian Valley L.A. River pocket parks (Steelhead, Osos, and Egret) and the De Anza Trail.

Farther afield:

> Circle of Blue reports on a Michigan court decision that’s strengthening river protections – so rare!

> Rain-swolen rivers in Australia: watch scary videos of the Brisbane River and flash flooding in Toowoomba.

Akiko Crawford’s River Artwork

4th Street and 6th Street Bridges over the L.A. River - painting by Akiko Crawford

Feast your eyes on this L.A. River art by Akiko Crawford. Click on each image to link to larger versions. Creek Freak ran one piece of hers of in an earlier post, then she recently posted a handful of wonderful river and bridge images, so I figured I’d check in with her and run a bunch here. There’re more, and other urban sketches, designs, renderings, photos and other stuff at Akiko Crawford: Portfolio and Art Blog.

Western end of 4th Street Bridge - drawing by Akiko Crawford

The Arcadia Woodlands: In Memoriam

A view into a cathedral-like canopy that exists only in memory as of Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Indulge my sorrow for a moment by pondering this: as a complex and regenerative living system, the Arcadia Woodlands did not have a date of birth. Yes, technically the site contained trees that could be counted and carbon dated to determine age, but this approach fails to take into account the perpetuity of life and death that had existed there for thousands of years. The Woodlands were born long before the human concept of birth, before our concept of tree. This dynamic ensemble of life bore witness to countless iterations of diversity and evolution. The Woodlands were, at one time, undoubtedly inhabited by species we will never have the opportunity to name. They were shaped by wind, water, fire, plate tectonics and natural selection, forces far beyond the influence of the minuscule Homo sapiens, the seldom-wise-but-often-arrogant man. Yet, in less than one day, this ecology that knows no time was irreverently reduced to a memory by a construction crew swinging steel arms, and by officials wielding twisted words and hasty pens.

Suggestions for last-minute charitable donations

Recovering grey fox used to live at or near the Devil's Dip creek. He was poisoned with strychnine. Photo: Valley Wildlife Care

Creek Freak is mourning the razing of the Arcadia Oak Woodlands, and post-mortems will be rolling in over the next few days. But here’s another time sensitive issue where your contribution can make a big difference.

The tax year has ended, but you have til the end of the month to make tax deductible charitable contributions. We at LA Creek Freak (who are not a 501(c)3) hold a high regard for the many non-profit organizations active in our watersheds, all of whom would be worthy recipients of your donations. Check out our blogroll for links to them.

However, we thought this year to feature some very small non-profits that operate on the thinnest of shoestrings that would really benefit from your support.

Valley Wildlife Care – donate online – The heroes who recuperated a native grey fox poisoned out by the Devil’s Dip last year.

South Bay Wildlife Rehab - I (Jessica here) have had the privilege of driving owls, hawks, and other birds to the vet for this group and have seen up close how dedicated these volunteers are to mitigating the harm done to winged wildlife by urban sprawl.

Friends of the Santa Clara River – donate online – our region’s last wild river is beleagured by the same development thinking that destroyed the LA and San Gabriel Rivers. And as we in the basin know, it will cost more to restore it than to protect it. Give these folks a hand. Or donate to land acquisition efforts at the Nature Conservancy or California Coastal Conservancy.

CicLAvia – donate online – Promoting a biking and walking culture in LA moves us towards sustainability; changes to make streetscapes more human-friendly inevitably also improve watershed function. (ok – it’s not quite a creek group – but Joe works there – and read Why I Creek Freak Like Bike to make the bike-creek connection. give $11 to CicLAvia’s Kickstarter campaign by January and get a cool spoke card!)

There are lots more prominent non-profits we creek freaks work with. They’re great and need  support – Heal the Bay, TreePeople, the Watershed Council, FoLAR, NE Trees, Green L.A. Coalition, Ballona Creek Renaissance, Arroyo Seco Foundation and many others – see the blogroll links on the right - but we wanted to draw attention to some of the smaller ones our readers may be less familiar with. Please include other suggested groups in the comments!

Woodland Update: The Eve of Destruction

From left to right, David Czamanske (Sierra Club), Cam Stone (Arcadia), Caroline Brown (Sierra Madre) and Glen Owens (Monrovia) speak in front of Supervisor Michael Antonovich during the L.A. County Board of Supervisors Meeting

SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE THE ARCADIA WOODLANDS!

• D-DAY (DEMOLITION DAY) IS TOMORROW!!!: Cam Stone reports that at 11:15PM tonight, he witnessed a large flat-bed truck passing by his house on Elkins Avenue (driving away from the gate that leads to the Woodlands), followed by what appeared to be a government vehicle (black Crown Victoria). This likely means that the heavy machinery will be on site for work in the morning. Time is near gone for the venerable oaks and sycamores of the Arcadia Woodlands.
• Protest at Elkins Avenue gate: As a last-ditch effort, supporters will gather at the Elkins Aveune gate at 7:00AM sharp to protest the destruction of the Arcadia Woodlands. If you are available tomorrow and at all vested in this issue, this is most likely your last opportunity to act. Directions: From the 210 Freeway, head north on Santa Anita Avenue (for approx. 1.5 miles), make a right on Elkins Avenue, drive about 1/2 mile to the end of Elkins, the gate is at the end of the road.
• City of Arcadia finally recognizes the project is flawed: As reported in the Arcadia Patch, the City of Arcadia sent a letter to Supervisor Michael Antonovich this morning explaining that they were now (finally) aware that the Santa Anita Reservoir Sediment Removal Project may actually result in more truck loads through the neighborhood rather than less (as was explained by the County during the EIR process… the idea of trucks driving through Arcadia neighborhoods on a continual basis was not well-received in the community and public opposition led to the County’s choice of the plan that would clear the Woodlands to prevent trucking through the neighborhood). The City of Arcadia expressed concern because by destroying the Woodlands, the County would gain 500,000 cubic yards of space for future sediment dumping (not all of which would come from Santa Anita Reservoir but from seven other debris basins outside the City of Arcadia as well, which means… trucks through Arcadia neighborhoods). This was not communicated by the County during the EIR process… while welcomed with open arms, the letter from the City of Arcadia may be too little too late.
• Woodland supporters voice their concerns before the L.A. County Board of Supervisors (to no avail…): Despite being excluded from the agenda, approximately twenty supporters of the Arcadia Woodlands appeared at the L.A. County Board of Supervisors’ weekly meeting today. Many spoke eloquently and passionately on the topic during the public comment portion of the meeting, but since the Board cannot deliberate on non-agenda items, no action was taken.
• L.A. County Department of Public Works officials speak in front of the Board: Prior to public comments at the end of the meeting (where supporters of the Arcadia Woodlands spoke out), Mark Pestrella and Chris Stone of the L.A. County Department of Public Works sat before the Board and provided a brief summary of the DPW report on potential alternatives and public comments regarding the Santa Anita Reservoir Sediment Removal Project (the report was produced in response to the 30-day moratorium on construction to “explore project alternatives” called for by the Board of Supervisors). Not surprisingly, Pestrella and Stone defended their plan and stated that if the project was shelved, the entire City of Sierra Madre and a portion of Arcadia would loose drinking water and flood protection for nearly 56,000 residents would be lost. This is a subtle misrepresentation of the argument put forth by supporters of the Arcadia Woodlands who are, by no means, calling for the project to be canceled. Woodland supporters recognize the need for sediment removal and have proof (in the form of an independently commissioned engineering report) that this can happen without destroying the Woodlands. One of the most notable moments of the exchange occurred when Pestrella contended that the removal of the Woodlands and subsequent sediment placement was actually the most “sustainable” option (in lieu of trucking the sediment off-site) because, if there were no dam upstream and no channel, the sediment would be deposited in the Woodlands “naturally”. I am at a loss for words…

Woodland Update: Monday, Jan. 10, 2011

Oaks and sycamores line the access road adjacent to the Arcadia Woodlands.

SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE THE ARCADIA WOODLANDS!

• Arcadia Woodlands on Fox 11 News: Glen Owens (Monrovia Planning Commissioner) and Cam Stone (Arcadia resident and Woodlands Advocate) were interviewed by Hal Eisner of Fox 11 News a short time ago. The piece will air during the 10:00PM news hour tonight.
• Protest scheduled for tomorrow: The following message is an excerpt from a press release composed by Christle Balvin of Hintz & Balvin Communications: “Halt those bulldozers and switch off those chain saws” will be the message delivered by a wide-spread coalition of Arcadia neighbors and environmentalists massing in front of the Board of Supervisor’s at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 11th at 500 West Temple in Los Angeles. If you are interested, by all means join in!
• L.A. County Board of Supervisors Meeting: Despite numerous phone calls, letters, and emails, the Woodlands did not make it onto the supplemental agenda for the Board meeting tomorrow. However, there will be a contingent of supporters on hand to voice their opposition to the destruction of the Woodlands. If you wish to have your voice heard, show up early and fill out a speaker card. The board cannot act on any item that is not on the agenda, but if enough voices are heard, perhaps Supervisor Antonovich will be moved to action.
• Legal action on behalf of the Woodlands: The following is an excerpt from an email sent by Caroline Brown (spokeswoman for the California Oaks Foundation): “Glen [Owens] has hired an attorney to file a letter with the County.  It will request a short moratorium asking for a week or more to review the County’s report which only was available Friday around 2:00 p.m.  The Country Board of Supervisors meets on Tuesday morning.  If the Board does not grant the extension at its morning meeting, the attorney will file a restraining order to stop the bulldozers now scheduled for Wednesday morning.”
• Arcadia Woodlands on YouTube: On Saturday (Jan. 8), Cam Stone and Kevin Breckner (Time River Productions) visited the woodlands and were spotted by security guards who promptly contacted the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. The confrontation was uneventful and led to no penalties, but the visit did produce what might be some of the last film footage of the Woodlands. The YouTube video “Santa Anita Wash Oak Grove Threatened” has over 200 hits as of this post.
• Arcadia Woodlands on Facebook: Save the Arcadia Woodlands group HERE.
• Petition Update: The online petition to save the Arcadia Woodlands has over 1,300 signatures as of this post!

News and Events – 8 January 2011

Act now to save Arcadia's threatened oaks! Photo by ecotonestudios

RECENT NEWS:

> If you haven’t read Josh’s article yesterday about the urgency of action to prevent the county’s astonishingly wrong-headed plans for burying Arcadia’s oak woodlands – read it and take action! Demolition is scheduled to begin next week. Here’s a set of links of  yesterday’s blogger solidarity day post to save this irreplaceable site: Altadena Hiker, ArcadiaPatch, Ballona Blog, Bipedality, Breathing Treatment, Chance of Rain, Echoes, Greensward Civitas, L.A. Creek Freak, L.A. Eco-Village, L.A. Observed, Pasadena Adjacent, Pasadena Daily Photo, Pasadena Real Estate with Brigham Yen, Slow Water!, The Sky is Big in Pasadena, Temple City Daily Photo and Weeding Wild Suburbia. Thanks also to Sierra Madre Tattler!

> Oiled Wildlife Care Network reports an oil spill in the Dominguez Channel on December 22nd 2010. Their team ”recovered three oiled birds:  one Pied-billed grebe, which died, and two American Coots.”  As of January 4th, OWCN reports that  ”no responsible party has been identified, and the source of the spill remains unknown.” Full story at link.

> ArroyoLover reports on the drawbacks (pun intended) of new archery range fencing proposed for Pasadena’s Lower Arroyo Seco Nature Park.

> L.A.’s Daily News reports a Shadow Hills incident where a ”car raced downhill, bouncing over speed bumps before brushing by horse and rider, spooking them to the curb. [The horse was] injured [and ultimately perished] when she became trapped in a storm drain debris screen[...]. The driver did not stop.” Interestingly the article calls for changes to the storm drain trash grates, but seems to let the criminal speeding driver off the hook. Full story at link.

> If you think L.A.’s La Niña rains were bad, read Circle of Blue‘s reports on disastrous El Niño rains in Colombia and Venezuela.

> The Los Angeles Times has an impressive photo of water churning through the San Gabriel Dam during recent tests. Also at L.A. Times: environmentalists file suit to block Newhall Ranch development imperiling the Santa Clara River. And, further afield, plans for the future health of the Klamath River.

> The Project For Public Spaces has an extensive conference proceedings document that serves as a sort of handbook for waterfront design/place-making. Their top recommendations (as distilled by me) are: multiple destinations, connected by trails for walking and bicycling.

Drastic Declines in World Fisheries - New York Times via Cyborg Vegan Cannibals

>Cyborg Vegan Cannibals has two scary graphs on the precipitous decline of world fisheries. One above and the other at the link. Maybe it’s time to watch Dan Barber’s Ted.com video again. (Thanks to TrueLoveHealth for sharing the CVC link!)

UPCOMING EVENTS

> The city of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation hosts a Low Impact Development update on Thursday January 20th 2011 at 1pm at their Media Center Offices. Details at L.A. Stormwater Blog.

Woodland Demolition to Begin on 1/12/11

 

The decision is yours...

In a valiant and rapid display of literary unity, Creek Freak co-founder Jessica Hall organized Blogger Solidarity Day today in response to the pending destruction of the Arcadia Woodlands next Wednesday, January 12^th. In an effort to spread the word about the cause far and wide, the online community here in L.A. took action (see list of participants at bottom). Following are a few of our thoughts (a big thanks to Jessica for her contributions here!) on a cause worthy of a fight right in our own backyard…