Letter: Council is wrong about river plan

Glendale City Council members who support the wetlands plan for the L.A. River at the Verdugo wash connection are totally misguided in their decision-making process.

I totally support the reasons given by Mayor Weaver for his “no” vote at the Oct. 29 city council meeting. I am a retired engineer and understand the power of water. I am also a native of Glendale and have witnessed many times the amount of water that flows into the Verdugo Wash from our surrounding mountains and hillsides during heavy rain storms.

Trying to sharply turn the flow of water as proposed in the wetlands plan would be totally futile, and would result in tremendous damage to the surrounding areas now protected by the Verdugo Wash and the cement bottom and sides of the L.A. River. If the cement at the bottom of the river was removed, the power of the tremendous amounts of water accumulated from runoff during major storms would act like a domino effect and totally destroy the cement bottom and sides of the L.A. River after it destroys the wetlands green space.

My aunt and uncle owned a pit barbecue restaurant on the west side of North Verdugo Road just south of Opeechee Way during 1938, when major floods hit. There was no concrete channel in the Verdugo Wash, and the water flowing from the foothills took out the entire bank of the existing wash, taking with it all the barbecue pits and undermining the back of the restaurant, where their living quarters were. The power of water has no mercy.

I plead with all our leaders to respect the power of water and terminate any further studies that involve removal of any part of the cement bottom and walls forming the L.A. River. What L.A. and the Corp of Engineers should be doing is to remove all the vegetation that has grown inside the river, as Mayor Weaver suggested.

Albert Hofmann
Glendale