A ‘New’ River for Los Angeles

“We’re trying to make the river more than a concrete block,” explained a county supervisor’s aide before the board voted Tuesday to spend more than $4 million to create parks along the Los Angeles River. That’s a fine idea, and it’s about time.

When they lined large stretches of the 58 miles of the river with concrete, beginning in the 1930s, local leaders set in motion decades of neglect and decay. The river became little more than a flood control channel and its banks an eyesore of trash and graffiti. That it runs through some of the poorest communities in the county--Maywood, Vernon and South Gate, among others--meant river cleanup, let alone restoration, was never high on any politician’s list.

But improvements have long been priorities for the Friends of the Los Angeles River and other farsighted groups. To think of a river and its environs as a recreational resource is hardly a wild and crazy idea. In a region as needful of parks as this, reclaiming the riverside--while maintaining the channel’s flood control capability--should have been a no-brainer. Yet for years Los Angeles County steadfastly refused to contemplate improvements at the river other than those designed to move storm water downstream faster and out to sea at Long Beach.

Last year the supervisors approved spending $312 million to erect higher concrete walls along the river’s lower stretches for better flood protection. In recent months, the county properly cleared miles of river-bottom vegetation in anticipation of El Nino-caused flooding.

Compared to the funds spent on these projects, the $4.16 million approved by the supervisors to create new parks and enhance bike paths at six sites from Lincoln Heights to Downey is small change. Supporters hope the modest parks, some including soccer fields and roller skating paths, will one day form a connected greenway along the river. More immediately, the county board, by its vote Tuesday, seems to have belatedly acknowledged its responsibility not just to protect residents from harm but also to enhance the quality of their lives. Sometimes even a deep river can change its course.