Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation Honors Reyes at Kick-Off Event

More than 200 guests gathered on the afternoon of September 11th to help 'kick-off' the newly launched Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation on the patio of Atwater Crossing near the Los Angeles River.

An independent organization created by the City of Los Angeles two years ago, the LARRC is a non-profit corporation charged with promoting responsible development, redevelopment, and revitalization along the Los Angeles River corridor, in accordance with the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan, according to their website, http://thelariver.com/.

Sunday's event drew quite the 'Who's Who' of Los Angeles 'riverly' people. While guests mingled and noshed, facilitator Ron Milam  got the 'riverly' energy going with his LA River wall mural where everyone was encouraged to draw their 'dream project' for the LA River.

Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti opened the formal festivities by welcoming the enthusiastic crowd, and introduced LARRC's first Executive Director, Omar Brownson, seen here offering his vision for the River, while LARRC Vice-Chairman and first Corporation Chair Harry Chandler looks on.

Omar, who has extensive experience in start-up organizations, spoke of how he's 'come home' to LA to help move LA River revitalization forward.

In the short few months since Omar's hiring in January 2011, LARRC has launched their website, moved to offices at the LA River Center, and hired two additional staff members to work on fund-raising and office operations.

Among the political dignitaries in the crowd were Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, Los Angeles City Council Member Tom LeBonge, Los Angeles Public Works Director Paula Daniels, Los Angeles City Planning Commission President Bill Roschen, and LA Planning Commissioner Barbara Romero.

The highlight of the day's event was the presentation by LARRC Board Chairman Daniel Tellalian of the first 'Changing the Course of LA' Award to Los Angeles City Council Member and River Champion Ed Reyes. The award, a beautiful bas relief of a blue heron rising from the River, was a commissioned work created by Los Angeles artist Steve Appleton.

During his remarks, award recipient Reyes spoke passionately about his vision for the LA River, forged by more than a decade of river revitalization advocacy within the City, and spoke how immediate attention on river corridor revitalization would bring much needed new jobs to the City of Los Angeles.

Other 'riverly' leaders spotted in the crowd included: LARRC Board Members Bruce Saito and Daphne Zuniga; LA Mayor's Office Liaison Romel Pascual; LA River Committee Liaison Lupe Vela; US Army Corps of Engineers Planning Chief Josephine Axt; LA Bureau of Engineering's Deborah Weintraub;  LA River Office Director Dr. Carol Armstrong with staffers Larry Hsu and Megan Whalen; CRA's Jason Neville; TreePeople's Andy Lipkis; Landscape Architect Mia Lehrer; Master Gardener Glen Dake; and the Trust for Public Land's Carolyn Ramsay.

Renewable Energy Along Rivers? Tell the USACE What You Think

As all of us who work in river restoration know, we cannot complete our projects without obtaining a plethora of permits from various governmental agencies. On average, a typical project will require between 10 and 18 permits.

One of the most important permits is the ubiquitous US Army Corps of Engineers Section 404 of the Clean Water Act permit and, in some cases, the Section 10 Rivers and Harbor Act of 1899 permit.

According to the USACE press release of February 16, 2011 (which I've just read thanks to fellow blogger Trouthead at Club EcoBlue Blog), the Corps is seeking comments on its proposal to renew and revise nationwide permits for work in wetlands and other waters. In addition, AND THIS IS THE BIGGIE,  USACE is proposing to issue two new nationwide permits that pertain to authorizing renewable energy generation projects.

These nationwide Section 404 and Section 10 permits authorize activities that are similar in nature and cause only minimal adverse environmental impacts to aquatic resources separately or on a cumulative basis. Activities range from work associated with aids to navigation and utility lines to residential developments and maintenance activities. Many of the nationwide permits being proposed remain unchanged from 2007, according to the USACE press release, the last time the nationwide permits were authorized.
 
USACE division engineers may add, after public review and consultation, regional conditions to nationwide permits in order to protect local aquatic ecosystems such as fens or bottomland hardwoods or to minimize adverse effects on fish or shellfish spawning, wildlife nesting or other ecologically critical areas.

A public notice to solicit comments on the proposed set of revised nationwide permits was published in the February 16, 2011 Federal Register at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-02-16/pdf/2011-3371.pdf. USACE will accept written comments for a 60-day period that ends on April 18, 2011. Comments may be submitted by e-mail to NWP2012@usace.army.mil or through the Federal eRulemaking portal at www.regulations.gov at docket number COE-2010-0035. The current set of nationwide permits expires March 18, 2012. The nationwide permits being proposed will replace the existing set.

Additional information about the Corps’ regulatory program can be found at http://www.usace.army.mil/CECW/Pages/cecwo_reg.aspx.

April 18th is a hard deadline for comments, so don't delay in adding your voice.

Los Angeles River Cooperation Committee Chooses First Project

Monday January 10th marked the first meeting of the newly reorganized Los Angeles River Cooperation Committee, comprised of representatives from the City of Los Angeles Engineering Office/LA River Office, Bureau of Sanitation, Recreation & Parks Dept as well as the Watershed Management and Water Resources Divisions of the LA County Flood Control District. The US Army Corps of Engineers participates as a non-voting member.

Committee Co-Chair Gary Lee Moore, of the LA Engineering Office, presided over a full agenda and a packed house, including community representatives from Friends of the Los Angeles River, Northeast Trees, Silver Lake Conservancy, Native Plant Society, and the LA Fire Department Search and Rescue Division.

Two major topics dominated this meeting: First, regional representatives of the California High Speed Rail Authority (HSR) gave an informative update on HSR alignment crossing the Los Angeles River along three vital segments: Los Angeles Union Station to Palmdale (which also affects the Los Angeles River-Arroyo Seco Confluence), Los Angeles Union Station to Anaheim, and Los Angeles Union Station to San Diego. The southern route designs currently look at trestle bridging over the LA River, but of the 4 designs proposed through downtown northward through the Taylor Yard right of way, three now are tunneling options, where the trains would run 70 feet under the Los Angeles River. Design 4 which tunnels under the River and exits at the surface near the 2 Freeway and Fletcher Drive was a new proposal and finally one from HSR that seeks to complement rather than compete with LA River restoration activities in Cypress Park near the Rio de Los Angeles State Park and the new LAUSD high school.

The second top item was the presentation by Tori Kjer of the Trust for Public Land (TPL) on the LA River and Aliso Creek Confluence Project in the west San Fernando Valley, which creates a riverside greenway on a Los Angeles Department of Water & Power easement and a portion of a vacated street east of Wilbur Avenue and Kittridge Street. This project, which has already received partial grant funding, was unanimously approved by the Committee as its first project.  This project also includes the Rivers & Mountain Conservation Authority (RMCA) as a partner.

Other river projects underway incudes the Headwaters Project on Owensmouth Avenue in the West San Fernando Valley and the North Valleyheart Riverwalk in Studio City.

Committee member activity reports included the following:

USACE - There will be a federal site visit within the next couple weeks along the Ecosystem Restoration Study area of the LA River. The Corps will also be having a 'sweet spot' workshop with High Speed Rail in the new few weeks to work out final alignments along the River.

LA River Office - North Atwater Park and the Elysian Valley Bikeway both had successful groundbreaking and dedication ceremonies, respectively. Omar Brownson has been named as new Executive Director of the Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation. There will be a public River Update meeting at 6:30pm on February 10th in Reseda, location to be announced. This year's Mayor's Day of Service on March 12th will focus solely on the LA River and project ideas should be sent to Carol Armstrong.

Bureau of Sanitation - The Low Impact Development Ordinance was approved by the LA City Council and is now at the City Attorney's office for review. The groundbreaking occurred for a new green alley at Vineland Avenue and Burbank Boulevard, which will recapture enough groundwater to serve 60 homes annually. The Avenue 19/Humboldt Pocket Park Stormwater Capture project is underway. A blighted alley in South LA at Manchester and Figueroa is being converted to a green groundwater project in cooperation with Caltrans. All these projects are efforts to comply with the TMDL Implementation Program.

Other updates included:

The proposed LA-Rio (Los Angeles River Improvement Overlay) Ordinance is now out of the City Attorney's office and back in Planning, where significant revisions are likely to comply with other recent ordinances including the Green Streets and LID Ordinances.

There will be no LA River federal advocacy trip to Washington this year. However, the Committee is hoping to hold meetings with local Congressional leaders and perhaps State legislators in March.

Proposed topics for the next meeting, scheduled for Monday, April 4th at 1:00pm include an update from the County on the Sediment Removal Plan and a request from FOLAR on River access. This meeting will be  held at the LA County Dept of Public Works, 900 S. Fremont Avenue, Alhambra, in the conference center there.

Arroyo Seco Federal Appropriation Request Needs Your Support!

Today's exciting post is courtesy of Arroyo Seco News:

The long-awaited Corps of Engineers study of Arroyo Seco restoration projects might finally be on track as the result of the good work of Congressman Adam Schiff and other local congressional representatives. The House Appropriations Committee approved the 2010 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act including a $500,000 appropriation for the US Army Corps of Engineers study of the Arroyo Seco, Southern California's most treasured river canyon and largest tributary of the Los Angeles River.

The US Army Corps of Engineers Arroyo Seco study will conduct a technical assessment of ecosystem, hydrology and watershed management programs to identify five projects for implementation to improve the Arroyo Seco Watershed. A $500,000 appropriation will enable to Corps to pursue key tasks needed to complete the study. Local sponsors, including the Los Angeles County Flood Control District and the cities of Pasadena, Los Angeles, La Canada Flintridge and South Pasadena, will pay half of the $2.68 million budget for the study. The Corps study is critical for Arroyo Seco watershed restoration efforts because it will provide key technical analysis for restoration efforts as well as open the door to substantial federal funding.

A previous Corps reconnaissance study (2002) has already established that there is a federal interest in restoring and upgrading the Arroyo Seco. Upon completion of this feasibility study, the Corps can supply up to 75% of the funding for approved restoration projects. Appropriations for projects like this can come from the President's budget or from congressional direction. The Arroyo Seco appropriation was based on the request of four Congress members, Adam Schiff, Xavier Becerra, David Dreier and Lucille Roybal-Allard. Most congressionally directed authorizations have the support of one or two Congress members, so the Arroyo Seco project stood out for broad, bipartisan support.

The 2010 Energy and water Development Appropriations Act will now go to the Senate for further review, so funding is not yet assured. Differences between the House and Senate version of the bill will be ironed out in a joint conference committee.The Arroyo Seco Foundation urges all Arroyo lovers to contact Senators Feinstein and Boxer to express their support for at least $500,000 in funding for the Arroyo Seco project in the Senate appropriations bill.

You can contact Senator Dianne Feinstein here: http://bit.ly/mQMJv
and Senator Barbara Boxer here: http://bit.ly/UJIhO.

Thank you for supporting the restoration of the Arroyo Seco, Southern California's most treasured canyon stream.