Midstream in the Arroyo Seco

When some of the Swedish visitors were here for their The Fifth Ecology: Los Angeles Beyond Desire exhibit, we planned to go for a hike to Millard Canyon Falls, above Pasadena. Unfortunately the area was closed, likely due to the recent fires. We instead ended up taking a hike along the Lower Arroyo Seco in Pasadena. The lower Arroyo is a very popular, very pleasant site.

We parked the Swedes’ rental car at the southern end of the massive Rose Bowl parking lots, near the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center. A portion of the parking area was recently retrofitted to detain and infiltrate stormwater. A handful of parking spaces were removed to create a few oases of native plants. Here’s what it looks like:

Parking Lot Infiltration Area with Native Vegetation

and here’s a helpful sign explaining the project:

Parking Lot Signage about Improving Water Quality and Enhancing Habitat

(It’s all pretty nice… for a parking lot… but loyal readers can probably guess that this creek freak is not all that into parking lots. What I would like to see in this area is enhanced Rose Bowl access via bike and transit… allowing for much less parking needed… then ripping out some big chunks of that parking to make way for a re-naturalized Arroyo Seco streambed. Someday.)

Walking into the Lower Arroyo Seco Nature Park

We crossed Arroyo Boulevard, turned left, and walked downstream. We crossed below the Holly Street bridge and entered the Lower Arroyo Seco Nature Park. The park has a very pleasant walking paths with plenty of mature sycamores trees overhanging. This time of year, the site is particularly green and lush. Note that the park can also have poison oak. We didn’t encounter any this trip, but I’ve seen it there before. If you’re unfamiliar with poison oak, I recommend that you stick to the established trails.

For a short stretch here, about a quarter mile upstream from Colorado Boulevard, the bed of the Arroyo Seco is not channelized in concrete. It’s a nice meandering streambed.

This is the area where the city of Pasadena and the Arroyo Seco Foundation collaborated on a project to restore the arroyo chub – a small native fish species that is threatened.

We continued walking downstream. Below the magnificent historic Colorado Street Bridge, the Arroyo Seco is again channelized in concrete. In this area there’s a wetlands restoration project that was built in 1997. Water from the main stem of the Arroyo is shunted into parallel side streams, now dense with vegetation. These side-streams continue for about a half-mile below the Colorado Bridge.

There are plenty of wonderful historic bridges on this walk. I am pretty sure it’s the largest local concentration of historic bridges other than in Downtown Los Angeles. These include: the Linda Vista Bridge (now Holly Street) – 1925, the Colorado Street Bridge (now Colorado Boulevard) – 1913, the Loma Road Bridge – 1914, and the San Rafael Avenue Bridge – 1922.

We walked along the channel for about two miles. Though the stream is contained in the concrete channel, the surrounding area is a nice deep canyon – which is a bit unusual for Southern California creeks which tended to spread out into broad alluvial washes. The area is very popular for hikers, joggers, and folks walking their dogs.

Checking out the Busch Gardens' remains below San Rafael

We crossed to the opposite bank at the pedestrian bridge just below San Rafael Avenue – right where San Rafael Creek enters from the west. Locals there told us about the remains of Busch Gardens – an early amusement park that was located on the east bank of the Arroyo above and below San Rafael. Stonework adorned pathway remnants of the park are still visible on the hillsides.

The lower Arroyo Seco is an excellent site to visit and explore today… and a site that shows a lot of potential for greater restoration in the future.

(Notes: Another version of this walk appears on pages 160-163 in my book Down by the Los Angeles River published in 2005 by Wilderness Press and available at bookstores, libraries and on-line. Thanks to My Wårhagen for taking the photos.)

Walking upstream near the 134 Freeway Bridge

I just posted lots of great Ballona events and forgot to announce an event that I’m a part of!

Electric Lodge is hosting a weekend eco-film series, Green Screen.  Sunday morning they are urging the public to get off the couch and on a bike to tour parts of the Kenter Creek and Ballona Creek watersheds.  I’ll be your traveling talking-head on the tour, promising a stop at the Kuruvungna Springs and Ballona Creek.

The ride is $20, includes brunch and a van-ride back to your cars afterwards. Follow the Green Screen link (above) to register.  Come on out! it’s mostly downhill, folks.

Tree planters, grab your shovels and head out to Ballona Creek and Cochran Avenue tomorrow morning – Saturday – to help out with what promises to be a significant project on Ballona Creek in Mid-City Los Angeles.  North East Trees, with the support of Mid City folks, Council District 10, and the involvement of the Ballona Creek Renaissance, has been working to mitigate stormwater runoff entering this oft-neglected reach of the stream from the neighborhood using natural solutions – what is sometimes called biotreatment.  Tomorrow’s tree planting is a step in implementing the plans and will also help beautify the area.

[UPDATE] Thank you Marcia Hanscom for the reminder in the Comments section that Ballona Institute is also in the midst of restoration plantings on the Grand Canal Lagoon – a partially disconnected part of the Ballona Wetlands system that we all recognize as part of the Venice canals today.  Ballona Institute is bringing back the richness of diversity of wetlands plants that has been lost over years of filling & draining of the wetlands.  Every Saturday & Sunday (except the 6th and the weekend after Christmas) they will be out working from 9-noon, and 1:30-4:30pm.  Contact outreach@ballonainstitute or call (310) 578-8888. For more details, check out the comment section.

On December 4th, the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority (MRCA) will be dedicating several new landscaped entries to the Ballona Creek bikepath.  The MRCA has been a greenway-building powerhouse in our region, and I look forward to seeing their newest projects.  The dedication ceremony will be at 10am at Inglewood Avenue and Ballona Creek.  Tree planting and bike tour to immediately follow.

In other news the Ballona Watershed, Ballona Creek Renaissance and the Friends of Ballona Wetlands are partnering with folks at the Mar Vista Gardens housing project and family center to educate youth about the watershed and also install biotreatment that is also habitat along the banks of Ballona Creek in the Mar Vista area.  Hopefully I’ll remember to post the events so you can join in.

Meanwhile, for those of you who prefer virtual involvement to physical labor, a team of researchers (from Southern California Coastal Waters Research Project, CSUN, USC, San Francisco Estuary Institute and me) is working on a Ballona Historical Ecology project – and is keeping a blog about our work.  While it is partly for communicating the mundane (who’s going to what library when) we will also be posting juicy findings and tidbits – and welcome input from members of the public who have recollections of floods, fish, springs, wetlands, duck hunting, sycamores, willows, streams, old watering or swimming holes etc that existed in the Ballona Creek watershed (basically the area draining from downtown LA west to Marina del Rey, between the Santa Monica Mountains/Hollywood Hills to Inglewood).  You are always welcome to post those stories here on LA Creekfreak, but this Ballona Historical Ecology blog will take your comments direct to the research team.  Some of the team (with UCLA) area also studying the water flows in the watershed, in part to determine how much of the water in our stormdrains is actually “native” water from springs, seeps or groundwater – as opposed to runoff from yards or the Colorado River.

Many of the above-mentioned projects and activities were fostered through brainstorming at the Ballona Creek Watershed Task Force and among staff at the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission while I was working there.  It’s nice to see things happening.

Urban Coast Cover

Thursday saw the launch of a new research and policy journal, Urban Coast, put out by my friends and former co-workers at the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation (non-profit arm of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission) and the newly-formed Center for Santa Monica Bay Studies (a partnership of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation and Loyola Marymount University).  Conceived as a research, peer-reviewed journal by editor Sean Bergquist, the journal stands poised to bring the wealth of scientific research being conducted in our region that addresses local environmental issues to policymakers, regulators, and the many departments and bureaus that manage different aspects of city life – as well as to interested members of the public and others in the scientific community.  As Bay Commission Executive Director Shelley Luce said in her address Thursday evening,”we can craft better solutions for the problems we are struggling with” by using this as a forum for dialogue and consensus-building. The inaugural issue looks at water supply, how airborne pollutants get into stormwater and stormwater planning in Ventura County, the threat posed by New Zealand Mud Snails, global warming….check it out!

The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission is a non-regulatory state entity, a project of the State Water Resources Control Board and the Environmental Protection Agency, and is part of the National Estuary Program.  Its board is composed of many local elected officials and agency and nonprofit stakeholders, as well as state and federal stakeholders.  It operates to support the goal of environmental health of the Santa Monica Bay through the cooperation and voluntary action of its stakeholders.

The central table, featuring a map of the river and bridges through downtown L.A.

Here are a couple of photos from tonight’s opening reception for The Fifth Ecology: Los Angeles Beyond Desire. In my earlier post previewing this, I neglected to mention that there will be a free panel discussion tomorrow night (Monday November 16th at 6pm) featuring Los Angeles City Councilmember Ed Reyes and others. Come on down and listen in, ask questions, and share ideas. It’s free and takes place at Gallery 727, located at 727 South Spring Street, LA 90014.

From Team Stockholm: Jakob Ingemansson, Mania Aghaei Meibodi, and Bjorn Berglund

ps. for more upcoming fun on the L.A. River downtown, come and ride this Saturday’s (November 21st) Tweed, Moxie and Moustache bike ride, hosted by C.I.C.L.E. It’s a free easy beginner- and family-friendly bike ride which departs Union Station at 12:30pm and tours historic art deco architecture. I will be there speaking about some of the historic bridges over the L.A. River.

Downtown Ride this Saturday, featuring historic L.A. River bridges.

Flier for Albion Dairy - click for full 2-page pdf file with meetings info, map, and background sheet

The city of Los Angeles has announced a series of community meetings for public input on the future Los Angeles River park at the Albion Dairy site. The first meeting is this Wednesday November 18th at 6:30pm at Downey Recreation Center.

In September 2009, the city purchased the 6-acre industrial site located between North Spring and North Main Streets in the Albion neighborhood of Lincoln Heights. Earlier L.A. Creek Freak covered the purchase, background, and shared photos of the site.

From the city’s flier:

Please join First District, Councilmember Ed Reyes for the first of three meetings to discuss the future of the 6-acre Swiss Dairy site. The meetings seek to inform and solicit input from local neighborhoods and stakeholders on the possibilities to transform this site into a community riverside park.

The meetings will be hosted at:
Downey Recreation Center
1772 N. Spring St. Los Angeles, CA 90031
Refreshments and Snacks will be provided at every meeting

Wednesday – November 18, 2009
6:30PM – 8:30PM
Site-specific overview and background.
Community input on desired outcomes.

Saturday – January 9, 2010
10:00AM – 12:00AM
Community check-in. Design concepts presented.
Community input on project alternatives.

Thursday – January 28, 2010
6:30PM – 8:30PM
Community design unveiled.

The flier includes meeting information, map and a background sheet. For more information on the meetings, contact Marisol Salguero [213] 485.0763 marisol.salguero [at] lacity.org or Miguel Luna [818] 568.9139 miguel [at] urbansemillas.com

Swedes dunking the donut that illustrates the US fiscal priorities

There’s a fun Los Angeles River exploration show/project that’s opening this weekend. It’s called The Fifth Ecology: Los Angeles Beyond Desire. It’s the creation of a team of Swedish designers, architects, engineers and dreamers, collaborating through a year-long workshop based at Stockholm’s Royal University College of Fine Arts.

The team came and toured L.A. in February, brought some river folks to Stockholm earlier this year, and then dreamed up Los Angeles a river that would be vital and sustainable and wonderful. Their work is available as a handsome catalog online, and an exhibit at gallery G727 at in downtown L.A. (sometimes afectionately known as “James Rojas’ gallery.”) G727 is located at 727 South Spring Street, LA 90014. The exhibit will be up from November 15th through December 12, 2009. The opening reception is this Sunday, November 15th, from 5–9pm. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11am–7pm. At tonight’s downtown artwalk folks can see a pre-opening preview of the show.

Stockholm architect Mania Aghaei Meibodi painting the trapezoidal river channel gallery walls pink!

I’ve had the treat of hanging out with some of the creative folks behind the show when they were out in February, as well as the past week as they are staying with me at Los Angeles Eco-Village. There’s a lot of big ideas in the show – including a focus on the monumental job of how to make Los Angeles carbon-neutral – getting Angelenos out of our cars, generating energy sustainably, even growning more food locally. They’re big ideas, but presented in ways that are playful and even fun. The crew is transforming the gallery space to feel like a mini-Los Angeles River, with brigh pink sloped trapezoidal walls.

I read over the team’s booklet when it arrived late this summer. For me, much of what’s striking about it is a European look at Los Angeles and the United States. The title “Beyond Desire” is a response to the culture that Los Angeles’ boosters project to the world: luxurious, materialistic, glitzy. The team ties this high-consumption resource intensive reputation to the current U.S. budget crises and bailouts, declaring that Americans are living beyond our means. While there’s plenty of truth to this, it seems incongruous to me to tie this sort of analysis to the Los Angeles River. There are luxurious materialistic areas and cultures in Los Angeles… but the neighborhoods along the river aren’t really tied into that culture. They’re very working class, very underserved… not a lot of stars homes. Perhaps then, that makes the river a perfect spot to unfold a vision of L.A. that isn’t tied to the boosterism that we project.

The team is recommending various large-scale interventions: 

• Elevated sports fields connecting communities to the river
• Agricultural pyramids
• Flood detention wetland areas
• Local energy generation from floating dams and biogas
• Contain-O-Pod guideway transit for people, good and waste

and much more!

The Furry Hub - multi-modal connections between transit, Contain-O-Pods, bicycling, walking - along the river and into the neighborhoods

Some of it is pretty fanciful, and a bit difficult for me to imagine really coming to pass… but it’s a worthwhile step in fostering a dialog around how to make Los Angeles more resilient and how to reconnect us with our neglected waterways.

See you at the opening reception this Sunday from 5pm to 9pm!

A couple of updates from the blogosphere:

Meredith McKenzie posts an update at ArroyoLover from two meetings pertinent to the Arroyo Seco:  news of Congressional funding for the Army Corps feasibility study and a report on the Station Fire damage within the Arroyo.  The Army Corps study follows up on several studies performed by local agencies and groups, such as the Arroyo Seco Watershed Restoration Feasibility Study (North East Trees, Arroyo Seco Foundation, Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority and National Park Service) and the Arroyo Seco Watershed Management and Restoration Plan(North East Trees), Cal Poly and Parkway studies and then some.  So, some of us are already convinced that reaches of the Arroyo can handle naturalization – let’s hope the Corps agrees!

For additional info on the Station Fire, fires and chapparral, there will be a free talk this Saturday night (and you’ll still have time to go out clubbing afterwards) hosted by the Theodore Payne Foundation with Richard Halsey of the Chaparral Institute and Jon Keeley, PhD of the US Geological Survey:  6:30-8:30pm, Clark Magnet High School Auditorium, 4747 New York Avenue, La Crescenta, CA 91214.

Reader Thal Armathura follows up to an earlier post, Woodburied Creek, (and Petrea Burchard’s Pasadena Daily Photo) in our comments section with links to more info on Woodbury Creek at Avenue to the Sky.

If your interests run more towards wastewater, the LA Times reports that the LA Regional Water Quality Control Board is (finally) taking action to prevent high-powered Malibu pooh from seeping downstream into Malibu Creek and Surfrider Beach.  Thank you, Tracy Egoscue for your leadership at the Board, and to Baykeeper and Heal the Bay and others whose persistence has resulted in action.

The Times also reports that statewide leadership is yielding a compromise on state water issues.  I’ll reserve judgement for now, as there is both praise and criticism, and just point you to the article.  Emily Green at Chance of Rain neatly summarizes the compromise (and gets extra credit for use of the word backslapathon in a sentence) and gives a blow-by-blow account of the maneuvers leading up to the compromise here (basically, if you don’t already, you should just have her bookmarked). [UPDATE] Reader NHB pointed out that Heal the Bay’s Mark Gold offers a critique of the deal at Spouting Off.

Last but not least from the Times this week is a report from Huntington Beach on a small coastal salt marsh that was filled without a permit by a developer, Beachfront Village LLC.

Location of the planned Sunnynook River Park (from the city of L.A. via LAist)

This week, the city of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) board approved permission for the city to proceed with constructing Sunnynook River Park. The future park will be located along the southwest bank of the Los Angeles River, exteding from the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge to the Sunnynook Footbridge. The 3.4-acre park site, sandwiched between the 5 Freeway and the river bike path, and includes an easement for DWP power transmission lines.

The city has been awarded $1.7M to build the park… but that’s nearly all state bond funds, which have been delayed and frozen and re-frozen and damned to hell due to the state budget crisis.  So there’s no real time-line for when construction will start. Nonetheless, it’s great to see that the city is moving forward getting all their permissions in order to be ready when the approved funding becomes available.

More details on Sunnynook River Park from Creek Freak’s article about it last year. More coverage of this week’s DWP approval at LAist and at Atwater Village News.

Here’s a link to a project I’m working on, a rehabilitation of the artificial stream at the El Dorado Nature Center.  Sharon Gates with the City of Long Beach is maintaining the project blog to keep the faithful nature center visitors up-do-date on the goings-on in the stream – the area being fenced off for public safety during the construction.  Check out the progress!

The project will be using soil bioengineering techniques like willow postings, willow wattles, etc to stabilize some of the banks that have been subject to erosion over the years.  Small areas will use rip rap or logs to shore up the banks where there’s a lot of foot traffic up to the edge – we want to keep this to a minimum and emphasize the ability of willow and other native riparian plants to hold a waterway’s banks.  Huge quantities of the invasive Brazilian Pepper Tree have been removed, allowing in sunlight which will help the willow take root.

A lot of folks don’t realize the stream is artificial.  The historical condition of the Nature Center area was likely a periodically inundated alkali meadow or fringe area of the wetlands that today are concentrated around Los Cerritos.  Today’s Nature Center provides habitat for lots of birds, turtles and some mammals (including a coyote, I have heard).

My role in the project is pretty small – Restoration Design Group has me doing some construction administration, answering questions about design intent for the City and contractors, Bubalo Construction, who are implementing the project as a design-build.