Los Angeles River
* In response to “River Rescue,” April 20:
What will it take to revitalize the Los Angeles River as a place for public enjoyment and environmental restoration? Two easy steps. First, stop the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ expensive Los Angeles County Drainage Area Project (LACDA) and replace it with a project that would provide water conservation, recreation and river restoration, in addition to flood control.
The second step is to reorganize the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works and replace it with a watershed management agency as other similar counties in the United States have done. The agency would incorporate environmental restoration and protection, recreation and community enhancement into each flood control project. The agency would be staffed with biologists, ecologists, planners and engineers.
If the corps and the county would stop using 1930s-style (concrete) engineering and instead use alternative flood control strategies that will enhance communities and the environment, then river revitalization will become a reality.
JAMES M. DANZA
Chair, Technical Advisory Board
Friends of the L.A. River
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
