Autobiography
When
I was young I plunged headlong
headstrong,
impetuous,
rebelling
against the narrow confines of my valley.
With maturity I accepted my load
and made
an enduring contribution to
commerce,
industry and urban life.
Evenually I accumulated
a
substantial volume of alluvium,
and now
in my old age
I meander contentedly across
the
floodplain I have created,
my
legacy,
towards my final meeting with the ocean,
my
destiny, my home, my origin.
Ray Sumner
Lewis
MacAdams founded FoLAR in
1986 in an effort to see if the river could meet other public needs beyond just
flood control.
Bike trails
have been established along the lower sections of the river and are planned for
the area above downtown. Horseback riding is available along the river near Los
Feliz and further south near Rio Hondo. However one
hundred years ago there were intentions to include recreation along the river
when "Col. Griffith J. Griffith gave over five miles of riverfront
property to the city on Dec. 16, 1896 with the expectation that Griffith Park would become a grand riverfront park (although
the city initially wanted the land more for the water rights). Since that time,
the Golden State and Ventura freeways were built on the south
and west banks of the river on Griffith Park land ... easily the most
destructive blow ever inflicted on the park".19 The Park, Beach, and Recreation Initiative was passed in 1996 and will provide
funding to help create the L.A. River Greenbelt. The Los Angeles River Master Plan is a wetlands restoration project developed by
the California Whatershed Projects Inventory (CWPI)
- Arroyo Seco
Bikeway Project
and Dennis Crowley have been involved in
developing the Arroyo Seco
Bikeway proposal
which would connect downtown Pasadena to downtown Los Angeles. Los Angeles Bike Paths describes the larger system
around the county.
- American Whitewater
Affiliation: California
Rivers
- Ballona Ecosystem Education Project, 6038 W. 75th St., Los
Angeles, CA 90045. Ph: (310) 645-2241. And the Wetlands Action
Network, Ph: (310) 466-1700.
- Ballona Valley Preservation League, 12228 Venice Blvd, Box 500,
LA, CA 90066. ph: (310) 398-5511. Wetlands
information and activities.
- California Coast & Ocean, State Coastal Conservancy,
1330 Broadway, Suite 1100, Oakland, CA 94612. Quarterly publication
on water and coastal issues.
- California Environmental
Resources Evaluation System (CERES) includes a historical map of the LA River and a
description of the habitats, species, water quality and soils.
- California Native
Plant Society
- California Science Project, San Diego Chapter, "Watersite Workshops". Water quality
project.
- California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and the local office, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LARWQCB) (Region 4), 101 Centre Plaza Drive, Monterey Park, 91754-2156. Ph: (323)
266-7500, FAX: (323) 266-7600.
- CSARS Urban Environment Initiative includes databases by Cal
State LA on the LA basic on the environment, vegetation, soil, and flood
plains.
- Watershed Projects Inventory and the Los Angeles River Master Plan.
- Friends of the Los Angeles River, FoLAR, P.O. Box 292134, Los Angeles, CA 90029. Ph: (323) 223-0585.
Newsletter, articles, cleanup and restoration events. FoLAR
has published a Proposed Flood Control Strategy
for the Los Angeles and San Gabriel River Systems.
- Friends of Madrona
Marsh, P.O.
Box 5078, Torrance, CA 90510. ph: (310) 32MARSH. Summer
Science Camp, field trips, educational programs.
- Friends of the Santa Clara
River.
- GREEN,
Global Rivers Environmental Education Network. Information,
educational programs and materials.
- Heal the Bay, 2701 Ocean Park Blvd., Suite 150, Santa Monica, CA 90405, (310) 581-4188. Information,
beach reports, educational programs, publications, and a new searchable
map of the Santa Monica Bay on their web site.
- Los Angeles City Bureau of Engineering presents photos and
information on bridges along the LA River and water treatment plants.
- Los Angeles County Online, Information, education programs and
materials.
- Los Angeles County Flood Control, ph: 626-458-5100.
- L.A. County Museum offers many on-line natural history exhibits.
- Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP). Booklets, articles, many
educational materials. Contact DWP Publications, Rm. 1514, P.O. Box 111, Los Angeles, CA 90051-0100.
- Los Angeles Public Library Virtual Exhibit, Discovering the L.A. River.
- Visions of the River: A Selected Bibliography on
the Los Angeles River's History and Possible
Transformations, prepared by Susan Oppenheimer, Los Angeles Public
Library.
- Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LARWQCB) (Region 4), 101 Centre Plaza Drive, Monterey Park, 91754-2156. Ph: (323)
266-7500, FAX: (323) 266-7600. Reports on water quality of the L.A. River.
- LA River Listserv at
"la-river-discuss-subscribe@makelist.com" allows you to join an on-line
e-mail discussion of river related issues. Subscribe to the listserv to
join the discussion. For archived messages and more information, check the
web for the LA River Discussion group.
- Los Angeles & San Gabriel Rivers
Watershed Council, 2701 Ocean Park Blvd, Suite 150, Santa Monica, CA 90405. ph:
(310) 270-4151. FAX: (310) 270-4152. A council of stakeholders
(government, non-profit, and commercial) interested in coordinating river
and watershed issues.
- Metropolitan Water District, P.O. Box 54153, L.A., CA 90054-0153. ph:
(213) 217-6398. Water quality reports and educational materials.
- North East Trees, 4701 Olson St., L.A., CA 90041. ph:
(323) 221-1778.
- Ocean Cleanup
Program
- River Network, P.O. Box 8787, Portland, OR, 97207. pH:
(800) 423-6747. Nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people
save rivers.
- River Resource: A web site where students and teachers
can locate resources on rivers. It's also a place for classrooms studying
rivers to link up with each other to share what they are learning.
- San Francisco Estuary Institute publishes on-line survey forms
and instructions for avian, fishery, and vegetation surveys. 1325
S. 46th Street, Richmond, CA 94804. Ph: (510) 231-5714.
- San Gabriel Valley Water Resources
- Sierra Club, Los Angeles River Task Force. Information,
conservation and education programs.
- Southern California Coastal Water Research Project Authority (SCCWRP). Coastal water
quality information. You can download data on local conditions.
- Southern California Marine Institute. 820 South Seaside Ave., Terminal Island, CA 90731. Ph: (310) 519-3172 Fax: (310)
519-1054. E-mail: scmi@csulb.edu. Water quality training and workshops. Public
awareness and outreach programs.
- Southwest
Riparian Expertise Directory
- Surfrider Foundation A non-profit organization dedicated to
the protection of the coastal environment and water quality.
- Texas
Environmental Center includes a section on water quality and an encyclopedia of water terms.
- Tree People, 12601 Mulholland
Dr.,
Beverly
Hills,
Calif. 90210. ph:
(818) 753-4600. Booklets, newsletter, educational programs, workshops,
events, and field trips.
- Trust for Public Land, 10951 West Pico Blvd. Suite
204,
Los
Angeles,
CA 90064. Ph: (310) 474-4466. FAX:
(310) 474-1626. Contact: Larry Kaplan. "A non-profit land
conservation organization concentrating on three areas for land quisition in the Greater Los Angeles Area: urban Los Angeles, the Whittier, Chino Hills, Wildlife Area
and the Los Angeles River Greenway.
- U.S. Geological Survey: Water Resources of California, Educational Resources, and National Programs for Water Resources
- Water Education Foundation, 717 K Street, Suite 517, Sacramento, CA 95814, ph: (916) 444-6240, Fax:
(916) 448-7699. Maps, newsletter, books, teaching materials,
videos, posters.
- Water Replenishment District of Southern California, 12621 E. 166th Street, Cerritos, CA 90703. Pn: (562) 921-5521.
Fax: (562) 921-6101.
- Wrigley Association, P.O. Box 16192, Long Beach, CA 90806. Ph: (310) 599-0812. Contact:
Joan Greenwood. Long Beach neighborhood association
active in supporting alternative methods of flood control along the Los Angeles River.
For bike lovers there are Sierra Club and Heal the Bay
and Dennis Crowley
the Arroyo Seco
Bikeway proposal ,
and a larger system L.A. bike paths.
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