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The Los Angeles River flows 51-miles through Los Angeles County, California . It is formed by the union of Bell Creek and the Arroyo Calabasas in the southwestern San Fernando Valley (). Other major tributaries are Brown's Canyon Wash, Aliso Canyon Wash, the Tujunga Wash, the Western Burbank Channel, the Verdugo Wash, the Arroyo Seco , the Rio Hondo , and Compton Creek. It flows eastward through the San Fernando Valley until turning southeast near the Hollywood Hills , in the city of Burbank . Prior to 1825 , it then turned southwest, joining Ballona Creek and discharging into Santa Monica Bay . However, during a catastrophic Flash Flood in that year, its course was converted to its present one, flowing due south just east of present-day downtown Los Angeles and discharging into San Pedro Bay . (Prior to another major flood in 1862 , it was joined by the San Gabriel River in present-day Long Beach , but in that year the San Gabriel carved out a new course six miles to the east, and has discharged into Alamitos Bay ever since.) The river's main source is mostly from urban runoff, yet the Santa Monica and San Gabriel Mountains watersheds do also contribute. The river was originally discovered and named by Gaspar de Portola during his 1769 expedition of Alta California. He named it ''El Rio de Nuestra Señora La Reina de Los Angeles de Porciúncula'', so translated: ''The River of Our Lady Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula.'' It was referred to as the Porciuncula River. Until the opening of the Los Angeles Aqueduct , the Los Angeles River was the primary water source for the Los Angeles Basin , and much of its channel was dry except during the winter rains. Unpredictable and devastating floods continued to plague it well into the 1930s (most notably the catastrophic 1938 flood that precipitated the recall of corrupt Los Angeles mayor Frank L. Shaw ), leading to calls for flood control measures. The Army Corps Of Engineers duly began an ambitious project of completely encasing the river's bed and banks in Concrete , with only a trickle of water usually flowing down its middle. Ever since, it has primarily served as a flood control channel, fed by storm drains. The only portions of the river in which it is not completely paved over are in the flood control basin behind the Sepulveda Dam near Van Nuys ; a three mile stretch east of Griffith Park known as the Glendale Narrows; and along its last few miles in Long Beach. Sepulveda Basin is a flood-control basin to control floodwater runoff. Except for infrequent but dramatic flood episodes, this otherwise dry-land flood control basin, most of which is leased from the Corps by the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, plays host to diverse uses today including athletic fields, agriculture, golf courses, a fishing lake, parklands, a sewage treatment facility, and a wildlife reserve. The river's southern stretch forms the heart of an industrial corridor stretching nearly unbroken from Lincoln Heights to Long Beach . In this area, the busy Long Beach Freeway ( I-710 ) and several high-voltage power lines run within a few hundred feet of the riverbed. Several Rail Yard s are located along the river's banks in this stretch, as well. Just outside of the industrial corridor lie some of the most densely populated cities in the state of California, such the cities of Cudahy and South Gate ; most of these cities are in the river's flood plain and experienced significant flooding prior to channelization. The Los Angeles River has become a source of embarrassment for many Angelenos, with Graffiti lining its walls, garbage strewn along its bed, Homeless persons and Heroin addicts camped out underneath its bridges, and Drag Races (immortalized in the film '' Grease '') taking place in its channel. The river's condition is especially bad south of Boyle Heights . One of the most exciting initiatives shepherded over the last three years by the Ad Hoc River Committee is the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan. As a result of the Ad Hoc River Committee’s efforts, and with funding from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the City of Los Angeles’ Department of Public Works-Bureau of Engineering issued a Request for Proposals in 2005 for the preparation of a Revitalization Master Plan which would identify proposals that would make the Los Angeles River a “front door” to the City, and support a multitude of civic activities. The 18-month Revitalization planning process will look at improvements along the project area all aimed towards celebrating neighborhoods, protecting wildlife, promoting the health of the river, and leveraging economic development. By the end of the planning process, a 20-year blueprint for development and management of the Los Angeles River will be developed for implementation by the City of Los Angeles. A critical element of the Revitalization Master Plan will be ongoing opportunities for public involvement in the process. The plan calls for an extensive, proactive community engagement effort, and will employ multiple outreach tools, including public workshops/meetings held at key project milestones in convenient locations along the Los Angeles River, participation in appropriate neighborhood and community events, and an interactive web site (www.lariver.org). The Revitalization Master Planning effort formally commenced in September 2005, with the first public workshops scheduled for mid October 2005. The County's success in bringing most of the interested jurisdictions together and initiating conversations about the river and its future is tempered by its timidity in dealing with any potential controversy. Jurisdictional turf is sacrosanct, governance is not a subject, nothing requiring significant expenditures is discussed and the Corps' flood control plan is taken as a given. The County's plan threatens to come out in full support of motherhood and apple pie, but the staff has produced very valuable mapping and analysis of land use, ownership, jurisdictions, vacancy and other data essential for any future planning efforts. Friends of the Los Angeles River (FoLAR) and Unpave LA, a coalition of environmental groups, have been advocating restoration of the river, creation of a wildlife corridor from the mountains to the sea and a radical change in the way we deal with rainwater on individual properties. The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, a new player in the river drama, has a powerful State mandate to connect Elysian and Griffith Parks to the mountains. With an initial budget of $1,000,000, MRCA is evaluating the acquisition of properties to create parks and trails along the river between the two large parks. (See the article by Ester Feldman in the April '94 TPR). The California Coastal Conservancy, a state agency, published its Los Angeles River Park and Recreation Study in 1993, identifying potential projects along the river. In November 2005, Unpave LA sponsored a well attended conference, Rethinking the River, to promote discussion of LA River management options. Entertainment Numerous films, video games, and television programs have been recorded at or based on various sites along the Los Angeles River, including '''', '' Midnight Club II '', '' Rize '', and many others. Riverside communities Communities along the banks of the Los Angeles River include:
Crossings Crossings are listed from south to north. National Bridge Inventory See also References Further reading
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