BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SCR 101|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SCR 101
Author: Pavley (D), et al.
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SUBJECT : Los Angeles River revitalization
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution declares that the Legislature
honors and commends the commitment, energy, vision, and
leadership demonstrated by local, regional, state, and
federal government agencies, as well as nonprofit and civic
groups, organizations, and associations, in the creation of
parks and the restoration of natural habitats along the Los
Angeles River and its San Fernando Valley tributaries.
ANALYSIS : This resolution makes the following
legislative findings:
1. The history of the City of Los Angeles and the County of
Los Angeles and the surrounding environs is intimately
tied to the Los Angeles River, as the river provided
fresh water to the Tongva and Tataviam living near it
for thousands of years, and to the Spanish who
established the city's earliest settlements next to the
river for the same reason.
2. The San Fernando Valley is surrounded by the Santa
Monica Mountains, the Santa Susana Mountains, the San
Gabriel Mountains, the Simi Hills, and the Verdugo
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Hills.
3. The runoff from these mountains flows through the many
miles of the Los Angeles River's tributaries in the San
Fernando Valley, including the Tujunga, Pacoima, and
Verdugo Washes, and the Arroyo Seco.
4. The headwaters of the Los Angeles River are in Canoga
Park at the confluence of Bell Creek and the Arroyo
Calabasas, and the river then flows east through the San
Fernando Valley to the Glendale Narrows as it flows
toward the Pacific Ocean.
5. There are numerous significant local, state, and federal
parks, protected wildlife habitat and mountain
wilderness areas, bikeways, trails, and other open space
that connect to or are near the Los Angeles River and
its major tributaries throughout the San Fernando
Valley, including the Juan Bautista de Anza National
Historic Trail, the Santa Monica Mountains National
Recreation Area, the Rim of the Valley corridor and
trail system, the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area, and
the Tujunga Wash Greenway.
6. Strong flooding, particularly in 1914, 1934, and 1938,
necessitated the creation of the Los Angeles Flood
Control District in 1915, and led to its ongoing
partnership with the United States Army Corps of
Engineers to effectively manage and control the river's
flood waters.
7. Encasing the Los Angeles River in concrete for flood
protection permitted dense urbanization of surrounding
areas, but caused the river to be effectively cut off
from surrounding communities and destroyed large areas
of native riparian and adjacent habitat.
8. Pioneering work by numerous public agencies, community
and environmental organizations, and many individuals
has envisioned a different future for the Los Angeles
River, and this work has resulted in the County of Los
Angeles' Los Angeles River Master Plan in 1996 and the
City of Los Angeles' Los Angeles River Revitalization
Master Plan in 2007.
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9. The Obama Administration has made a priority of the Los
Angeles River through its 2011 designation of the river
as the United States Environmental Protection Agency
Region IX project for the Urban Water Federal
Partnership, and its 2012 designation as part of the
President's America's Great Outdoors Initiative.
10.The United States Environmental Protection Agency's July
2010 designation of the Los Angeles River as a
"traditional navigable water" under the federal Clean
Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1251 et seq.) emphasizes the
river's potential to provide recreational opportunities.
11.The revitalization plans call for reestablishing the Los
Angeles River as a focal point for the over nine million
people living in, as well as visitors to, the
surrounding communities, with a continuous greenway and
trail system forming a vital link between people,
neighborhoods, cities, and the region.
12.The revitalization plans call for enhancing multibenefit
flood control and improving water quality in the Los
Angeles River through restoring a functional, connected
ecosystem with safe public access to the river and
through providing open space, recreational
opportunities, and artistic, cultural, educational, and
environmental features.
13.A revitalized Los Angeles River will foster civic pride,
promote social justice, generate economic activity and
tourism, and improve the quality of life in the
communities surrounding the river.
14.Revitalization of the Los Angeles River has begun in the
San Fernando Valley, through the leadership of the Santa
Monica Mountains Conservancy and others, with a diverse
array of parks and natural habitat restoration along the
river, as well as its tributaries, and these areas
provide important recreational opportunities, water
quality improvements, and other environmental
enhancements and a sense of community along the river.
15.Creating and fostering linkages between the existing and
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planned parks, open space, habitat, trails, and
greenways along the Los Angeles River and its
tributaries in the San Fernando Valley is necessary to
achieve the full revitalization of the river and
communities along its length, and will require
coordination and cooperation between communities,
government agencies, and the private sector.
This resolution declares that the Legislature honors and
commends the commitment, energy, vision, and leadership
demonstrated by local, regional, state, and federal
government agencies, as well as nonprofit and civic groups,
organizations, and associations, in the creation of parks
and the restoration of natural habitats along the Los
Angeles River and its San Fernando Valley tributaries.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
CTW:m 8/2/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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