San Rafael Creek —
An Ideal Site for Stream Restoration

San Rafael Creek, at the southern tip of Pasadena, has long been considered an ideal site for stream restoration in the Arroyo Seco. But now Pasadena Public Works Department has teamed up with South Pasadena Public Works Department to champion the "Arroyo Seco Water Reuse Project," a $12 million plan that will degrade the Lower Arroyo with industrial equipment.

Local residents have always loved the natural character of the Arroyo Seco. It is what really makes the canyon and stream so special. San Rafael Creek is the last relatively natural tributary of the Arroyo Seco as it flows south to the Los Angeles River.

Since the 1960s, the Lower Arroyo area has been Pasadena's only nature preserve. West Pasadena Residents Association's founder Richard Jencks initiated the campaign to restore the natural character of the Arroyo Seco. In the 1980s the Cal Poly Pomona Landscaping Studio 606 put together a remarkable Master Plan for The Lower Arroyo for Pasadena that provided a road map to restore the natural character of the area.

The Lower Arroyo Master Plan, approved by the Pasadena City Council in 2003, stated: "The 1988 Cal Poly Study recommended the removal of the flood control channel." It called for Pasadena officials to work together with the County Department of Public Works to remove large sections of their flood control channel systems within the Arroyo Seсо while ensuring flood protection.

Then in 2006 planners from North East Trees, a community-based organization just downstream in North East Los Angeles, prepared a conceptual plan for removing the concrete and re-establishing real wetlands at the confluence of the San Rafael Creek and the Arroyo Seco. That is part of the offical watershed management plan for the Arroyo Seco, adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board. And in 2019 river restoration planners from the renowned Stillwater Sciences firm presented a remarkable restoration plan for the area to public officals from both cities.

2006 Watershed Plan - San Rafael Creek    Stillwater Sciences Tour

But the local public works officials have ignored all this history and planning in their current proposal.

The Safe Clean Water program, which has pledged more than $9 million to the Arroyo Seco Water Reuse project, prioritizes nature-based approaches to stream and watershed managment. That was mandated by Measure W — the ballot proposition that County voters approved in 2018. But instead Pasadena is proposing an overengineered program that relies on pipes, plumbing, and artificial pools that will junk up the Lower Arroyo with engineering faciities and present new barriers for fish, wildlife, and stream restoration.

After losing a court challenge from the Save San Pascual Park group, consultants for the two cities are finally putting together a full Environmental Impact Report for the project. They are pretending to ask the public for input. But they have already spent millions of dolllars designing the industrial facilities that will crowd the space on the west side of the flood channel just below San Rafael Bridge. They promise to relandscape the three vacant acres just south of the concretized San Rafael channel outlet, which will be retained. The treated water would be used to irrigate the parkland and golf course in South Pasadena.

Restoration Steps

The nature-based approach will:

How to Clean Up Pollution the Natural Way

Nature Based Solutions

 

Don't Degrade the Arroyo — Restore It