Multiple jurisdictions complicate efforts to revitalize
the 51-mile Los Angeles River.
As a frequent visitor to the Los Angeles River near
downtown, Tony Taylor says he has been passed around
from agency to agency when he has tried to get
vegetation trimmed or graffiti painted over.
So it irks him when environmentalists and politicians
hold a news conference to announce yet one more
beautification project along the river's edge.
When the cameras leave, says Taylor, river visitors face
this: graffiti, gang members causing havoc, encampments
of the homeless, loose dogs attacking wildlife.
Instead of politicians announcing new projects, he says,
"they should take care of what's already
there."
Taylor's frustration highlights a problem that river
advocates -- environmentalists and public officials --
have been wrestling with for years:
Even as new projects signal the continuing effort to
revitalize the river, officials haven't been able to
devise a comprehensive system of maintenance, security
and liability that some say is necessary to create a
greenbelt along the 51-mile waterway.
Those responsibilities fall into a patchwork of
jurisdictions, from local to federal agencies to private
environmental groups that have some sort of claim to the
river or have built projects along it.
"This is so convoluted that I'm having difficulty
describing it," said Scott Wilson, a longtime river
advocate and founder of Northeast Trees, sitting in one
of the "pocket parks" his nonprofit group has
built along the river.
Officials and river advocates say the various groups and
agencies with jurisdiction don't always work together or
have a single vision for the river's future.
And with so many players involved, mistakes can happen.
River advocates recall times when one group planted
vegetation to beautify the river, only to have a public
agency's maintenance crew inadvertently tear it out --
as happened to one of Northeast Trees' projects.
Maintenance, security and liability are important issues
to address, say those involved in river issues, because
recreational improvements, such as parks and trails, are
drawing more people to the river for recreation.
Increasingly, advocates are recognizing the need to work
together. In August, Los Angeles formed an ad hoc
committee on the river chaired by City Councilman Ed
Reyes. The city hopes the panel will function as a
clearinghouse that finally brings together all the
relevant agencies and groups to deal with a host of
issues.
Some of the agencies that have jurisdiction around the
river or that are involved in projects relating to it
are the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Los Angeles
County Department of Public Works, the governments of
the 13 cities the river crosses, Northeast Trees and the
Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.
Exhibit A
The pocket park near downtown where Wilson spoke
illustrates how lines of responsibility can be tangled:
The park was built by Northeast Trees, which got a
permit from county Public Works, which required someone
to commit to maintaining the site. The nonprofit group
lacks the means to maintain its pocket parks, so the
conservancy assumed responsibility for that and
liability. If visitors to the park take a couple steps
toward the river embankment, however, they cross into
the turf of Public Works or the Army Corps of Engineers.
Just upstream, other parcels can have completely
different arrangements, and questions of liability or
maintenance can be unclear. In addition to governments,
some individuals own portions of the riverbank -- and
even parts of the riverbed.
Liability, maintenance and security have been concerns
of advocates since the county Board of Supervisors
produced a river master plan in the early 1990s.
"Currently there's no single governmental
entity" overseeing those three matters, said Maria
Lopez, a representative of the county Department of
Public Works and project manager for the Los Angeles
River Master Plan. "Progress has been impeded by
this fact."
As part of that plan, the supervisors sanctioned an
advisory subcommittee that has met quarterly for about
five years trying to develop ways of handling the three
issues.
The 50-member subcommittee is made up of representatives
of the 13 cities the river crosses, environmental groups
and county, state and federal agencies.
But so far, "it's a problem we have not
solved," said Wilson, a member of the panel.
"I think that we really need to resolve this before
we move further along."
The subcommittee has always recognized that a more
formal system of maintenance, security and liability for
the whole river is needed, Lopez said.
The solutions the panel has pondered -- albeit
preliminary -- have included creating a river authority
that would coordinate handling of the three issues.
Another possibility is giving jurisdiction over the
whole river to the state Parks and Recreation
Department. Or maybe having all the currently involved
agencies share the responsibilities -- which could be
formalized and made a priority.
Money a Challenge
But any solution would require funding, and that's the
next challenge, Lopez said. State legislation or a
countywide bond measure may be necessary to provide the
money.
"With this growing interest" in the river,
"now, it's really creating a push to resolve this
sooner," Lopez said. "Now we are having
interest from the city of L.A. If every city had an ad
hoc committee, that would be great."
Though some residents have long complained about
problems with maintenance, security and liability, there
are other issues likely to surface in the infant
movement to convert what is really a flood-control
channel into a natural river.
At its first two meetings the L.A. ad hoc committee,
which includes Reyes and four other council members, has
focused on taking inventory of work already done at the
river.
There's so much to understand. The jurisdictions. The
law enforcement agencies that could patrol different
parts of the river. What chemicals are being dumped into
the waterway. What funds -- from local to federal -- are
available for projects.
Reyes said it's too early to say how problems should be
handled in the long-term revitalization effort.
"We are talking about a whole range of
responsibilities that are spread out by many
jurisdictions," he said. "These are the type
of issues that this committee was formed to get more
clarity" on.
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