January 2015
No Big Dig! Needs Your Support Now
We have big news!
La Cañada Flintridge parents Shannon and Tim Griffin have generously offered $5,000 toward our Indiegogo goal of $25,000 — if we can reach $20,000 by the deadline. With eight days left and $8,000 to go, we need your support now!
We are counting on grassroots community support to take on the County's horrendous plan for Hahamongna Watershed Park.
The lawsuit challenges the devastating impacts of the Flood Control District's Big Dig program, which would involve 150,000 diesel trucks removing more than 2.4 million cubic yards of sand and sediment from the basin behind Devil's Gate Dam over a five-year period and permanently degrading more than 50 acres of streamzone habitat there. Air pollution, traffic congestion and public health are all major concerns.
Become a Hahamongna Hawk
We need 250 people who can give $100 each to protect Hahamongna for future generations. The deadline for our grassroots fundraising campaign is Wednesday, February 4.
Please give generously and share this campaign with your friends and neighbors: No Big Dig
Arroyo Seco Ecosystem Restoration Study Advances
Residents of Arroyo Seco communities met in Sycamore Grove recently to get the latest news on Arroyo Seco Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study and share their questions and ideas on Arroyo Seco restoration. The meeting was hosted by Loyd Kattro of the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council and sponsored by Councilmember Gil Cedillo.
The Arroyo Seco Foundation gave a presentation on our Arroyo River Parks planning framework and shared the River Parks video, posted in the section below and featuring Outreach Coordinator Tim Martinez.
Read more about the meeting and view the slideshows given by both the Corps and the Arroyo Seco Foundation on our website.
The goal of the Arroyo River Parks Program is to link existing parks and open spaces to each other and to the river. Rather than focusing on a few key sites along the eleven mile urbanized stream course, Arroyo River Parks is an approach that will integrate the more than 30 parks and open space linkages that line the concretized stream as part of a cohesive network supporting hydrological, ecological, and social connections — and emphasizing respect for place. Check out the video above for more details.
Southwest Museum Declared National Treasure
Community members filled the Southwest Museum this month when the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the leading organization of the country's preservation movement, declared the Southwest Museum site a National Treasure, a distinction held by only 53 other sites across the country.
While this annoucement does not restore a fully functioning museum to the site, the National Trust's involvement brings new resources to the community's ongoing efforts to restore Los Angeles' first museum to its full glory as one of our region's greatest cultural and educational treasures.
Click here to watch the National Trust's announcement, and visit treasureswm.org to share your feedback.
The Lower Arroyo — A Nature Preservation Area
The Lower Arroyo is the only area in Pasadena that is designated as a natural preservation area. That goes all the way back to the Arroyo Public Lands Ordinance approved by the City Council in 1991. The ordinance also states that there should be no expansion of recreational activity there, but over the years archery activity has dramatically expanded there, and the west side of the Lower Arroyo has become cluttered with the archers' poles, hay bales, barriers, berms, paths, signs and trampled habitat. Is this any way to treat Pasadena's only natural preservation area?
On Monday, February 2 the Pasadena City Council will consider authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement that will give the Pasadena Roving Archers control of most of the west side of the Lower Arroyo between the Colorado Street Bridge and the La Loma Bridge.
We support the Stewards of Public Land in their campaign to ensure that the area remains open to public access. We also believe that the area should again be treated as a nature preservation area as the city ordinance mandates. We urge you to contact your councilmember and let them know your views.
Another dry winter reminds us of the need to conserve water
After a brief mid-December improvement, drought conditions across California are returning to "exceptional" and statewide water resources remain in a precarious state. The Sierras, which supply the large share of our water, are at only one quarter of their normal snowpack according to Metropolitan Water District's latest storage report—the need to conserve is as great as ever.
In anticipation of a dry 2015, we want to remind you that there is still this season time to plant California native plants, such as our hardy sages and buckwheats. The hummingbirds and butterflies will thank you, too!
Don't forget that there are many rebates available for conservation investments around your home or business. Visit socalwatersmart.com or contact your local water provider for more information. Many have gone up in value!
Visit our conservation page to learn more about how you can do your part.
How have you been conserving? Send your story and pictures to info@arroyoseco.org and you could be featured in the next Arroyo Currents!
Support No Big Dig! — Help protect Hahamongna and our neighborhoods!
Arroyo Seco Calendar
Your guide to special events related to the Arroyo Seco, the Los Angeles River,
the San Gabriel Mountains, and key environmental issues in our region.
| Thu, January 29 |
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LADWP Stormwater Capture Master Plan Public Meeting 6 – 8pm LADWP Headquarters, 111 N. Hope St., Los Angeles 90012 The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is hosting two public meetings to present the Interim Stormwater Capture Master Plan. The draft plan considers the public's input from early to mid-2014, and will serve as LADWP's blueprint for capturing more stormwater in the City of Los Angeles. The Stormwater Capture Master Plan will serve as an important component of LADWP’s strategy to increase local water supplies and reduce the City’s reliance on more expensive imported water. |
| Sat, January 31 |
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Walking Pasadena - Lower Arroyo Seco Walk 2 – 4:30pm Rose Bowl Aquatics Center, 360 N. Arroyo Blvd, Pasadena 91103 Walking Pasadena hosts a walk that will explore the trails in the Lower Arroyo Seco starting near the Rose Bowl and heading to South Pasadena. The route is about 5.5 miles round trip. Easy walking with lots of nature and urban views. Suitable for all! |
| Thu, February 12 & Fri, February 13 |
|
JPL Public Lecture - No way back: Charting Irreversible Climate Change with Jason-3 7 – 9pm The von Kármán Auditorium, Jet Propulsion Lab, 4800 Oak Grove Drive Pasadena, CA As humans drive Earth's climate into a new regime, it is critical to keep our fingers on the pulse of the planet. Without adaptation, a 2 meter rise would displace 187 million people worldwide. Sea level will continue to rise, but how fast? Like its predecessors, Jason-3 will serve as our eyes on sea level rise. Measuring global sea level once every 10 days, it will chart out the global rise of the oceans--a rise that is unlikely to subside or reverse for generations. |
| Wed, February 18 |
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California Friendly Garden Class 6 – 9pm Upper San Gabriel Valley Muni Water District, 602 E. Huntington Dr, Suite B, Monrovia 91016 A super FREE class geared for residential landscaping needs! Covers holistic gardening, living soil sponge, rethinking your site, right place for your plants, rainwater as a resource, managing irrigation. Please RSVP to ruby@usgvmwd.org |
News of the Arroyo
An archive of news stories about and related to life in the Arroyo Seco.
Click on the title link to read the entire story.
| Community Enthusiastically on Board for Arroyo Seco Restoration | January 23, 2015 — Los Angeles residents and its local officials may be focused on the $1 billion restoration plan for Los Angeles River, but communities in the northeast have their eyes trained on a similar U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project that aims to restore the Arroyo Seco. |
| National Monument status splits Angeles National Forest in two; creates inequities, confusion | January 12, 2015 — Exactly three months after the historic designation, some are questioning the president's wisdom as nonprofits, environmental groups, federal, state and local agencies grapple with a confusing arrangement that baffles even proponents and leaves an inequitable division of haves and have-nots. |
| A River's flood role is 'paramount' | December 19, 2014 — Scientists looking to restore the LA River need to be careful to provide flood protection in a climate change world that is likely to have more extreme weather conditions. |
| Noxious Nuisance: LA County's sediment removal plan is but the latest episode in a long list of controversies involving Devil's Gate Dam | December 18, 2014 — The Pasadena Weekly covers the lawsuit against the Flood Control District and other elements of the lore of Hahamongna. |
| Devil's Gate Dam project challenged by area environmentalists | December 15, 2014 — Two local environmental groups filed a lawsuit Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court challenging the Board of Supervisors' recent approval of the controversial Devil’s Gate Reservoir Sediment Removal Project. |
| The real reason Tujunga and Arroyo Seco missed monument status: Larry Wilson | December 12, 2014 — Larry Wilson ponders the mystery why the Arroyo Seco and some of the Angeles National Forest were left out of the new San Gabriel Mountains Monument. |
| Here's How Much the Storm Is Helping California's Epic Drought | December 11, 2014 — Some experts are worried that the rain will make people forget about the fact that California's still in a drought. "Thursday it'll rain, and people will say, 'Oh, I'm very excited,' and Saturday it'll rain, and 'Oh, drought's over.' Not even close," Jeffrey Mount, a senior fellow with Public Policy Institute of California focused on water, told KQED. |
Arroyo Seco Foundation
Los Angeles River Center, 570 W. Avenue 26 #450, Los Angeles, CA 90065
PO Box 91622, Pasadena, CA 91109
(323) 405-7326 | info@arroyoseco.org
