Nature Conservancy biologist Sophie Parker in the Glendale Narrows section of the Lost Angeles River. Source: Yale E360

It might be hard to believe, but at one point in time the Los Angeles River was characterized by perennial and seasonal wetland, seeps, springs, swamps, riparian forests, and mud and alkali flats. Starting in  1938 and until 1960, however, the river underwent a radical transformation, as it was enclosed by a concrete straitjacket for 51 miles to funnel the water through a channel that prevents flooding.

In its natural state [the L.A. River] was often little more than a trickle for nine months of the year. During the rainy season, however, the small, braided stream would turn into a powerful, churning river. It behaved like a dropped firehose, wildly lashing the Los Angeles valley, scouring gravel and soil across a seven-mile-wide floodplain, and carving a new course with every deluge. When the waters receded, a mosaic of fertile marshes, ponds, and other wetlands remained.

Now the L.A. River will undergo another profound change in the near future that will release parts of the river from its man-made confines and allow for  the water to transgress more naturally. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in collaboration with the City of L.A.  and conservation groups, completed a plan to remove three miles of concrete, enhance an 11-mile run through the Elysian Valley called the Glendale Narrows, and restore lost habitat. Continue reading →