In 1769, a group of explorers from Spain came up from modern-day Mexico and settled upon a spot that the leader of the expedition, Gaspar de Portola, called a “good sized, full flowing River” lined with lush greenery.
From 1796 to 1913, that same river was the sole water source for the entire city of Los Angeles, as the community grew from small western settlement to bustling metropolis. The pure, clean water of the river also provided homes for some an array of plants and animals that made their home along the lush wetland.
“For the native [Tongva] peoples and the Spanish, the River was vitally important as the only water source,” said Alicia Katano, the educational director for Friends of the Los Angeles River. “From 1876 to 1880 the population doubled with the transcontinental railroad link to Los Angeles and hundreds of new towns popped up along the river, using it as a water source for their homesteads and farms.”
But take a trip to the Los Angeles River today, and one wonders why anyone would choose to get water from what lies in front of them- a dirty, concrete-lined river.
“Drink from it? That’s disgusting,” said Kevin Mattice, 17, a Los Angeles native. He then added jokingly, “I’m pretty sure all that ocean pollution you keep hearing about is coming from the LA River. It’s kind of sad.”
“I think people living here figure it was nice once, like a thousand years ago,” said Brandon Ioki, 17, also from Los Angeles. “No one really knows what happened.”
What happened to the river was the flood of 1938, which took the lives of 85 people, and forced the federal government to begin a massive project that would lay down billions of dollars worth of concrete on the river bottom. This project was the beginning of the end for the LA River, as people started to see it less as a river and more just as a flood control concreted channel.
And so the LA River faded from the minds of Los Angeles residents, and it just became another place for them to dump their garbage.
Today, the 51 miles it stretches across Los Angeles, only 13 miles have a natural bottom, which allows water to filter into the underground water basin. As far as its role as a free-flowing water source, the LA River has been out of the job that it did for over a century, both because of massive amounts of pollution now in the river itself, and also the creation of the aqueducts that import water from the Owens Valley, the Colorado River and the California Water Project.
But these sources are now being cut back or are at capacity, while Southern California continues to grow.
“This is not a sustainable way to proceed,” said Katano. “We need to start looking at our potential to capture, replenish and conserve water within our aquifers. Instead we are flushing all the natural rainwater out to the ocean, and wetlands where water collects and replenishes aquifers are few and far between.”
Even more than the water contamination issue, and the long-term plan for water in Los Angeles, the LA River is an example for a generation that faces a variety of shortages, including energy, that require an outlook that shifts direction. Mistakes of the past will have to be corrected.
“[With the channelization project] we took one of our first big steps toward controlling and disrupting natural environments in order to live,” said Katano. “This happened all over the world and is still happening today.”
So, is the LA River a symbol of the future? Maybe. Environmentalists argue that the LA River can teach the leaders of tomorrow about just how vulnerable nature is, and how critical change in our lifestyle truly is.
“It would be cool if they do all the revitalization they want to do, it would be good for LA to have,” said Mattice. “But I think that kids in LA see all the air pollution, and the LA River on top of that, and they all think that things have to change, just by taking care of things better.”
It is possible that the future may be looking brighter for the LA River, however, as one of the major goals of the “Master Plan” for revitalization is to improve the water quality of the entire stretch of the LA River. The goal will be to maximize groundwater supplies by filtering the river’s water into the region’s aquifers.
“Agricultural, industrial, and residential development over the past century, along with the use of pesticides, fertilizers, and household chemicals, have resulted in degradation of surface and ground waters within the region,” the Master Plan says. “The Plan proposes a comprehensive system of water quality treatment facilities that includes regional treatment, in-channel treatment, and on-site controls to deal with both runoff reduction and water quality treatment.”
As a step in this direction, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to improve the environmental conditions of the car wash industry. This comes on the heels of recent law passed prohibiting car owners to wash cars in their driveway, a practice that allows dangerous chemicals to get into the water that ends up flowing through one of the city’s 2,200 storm drains and into the LA River.
Parks, which help to arrest the flow of runoff, are being created in places that once were without any sort of recreational area, and green space with spreading basins are being created to help filter water into the underground water basin.
The river’s revitalization might be used to help communities understand nature’s importance and, in the process, help to create a more positive future for those living in them.
Our River was once a vibrant natural system that provided substance and maintained a healthy environment,” says the Master Plan. “Restoring and revitalizing the River can breathe new life into neighborhoods and nurture the souls of residents, becoming a springboard for the greater success of the City itself.”
No comments:
Post a Comment