The presentation took place in the Environmental Services Building in Long Beach. The presenter, Special Projects Manager William Preston Bowling, works with a nonprofit organization called Friends of the Los Angeles River (FoLAR).
Bowling opened up the presentation by showing images of the L.A. River in the early 1800s. Images suggested that the river was once vast and powerful in comparison to today— so much so that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were brought in to create concrete channels to control the wild river.
Bowling explained that in 1938 a massive flood caused the L.A. River to destroy large portions of farmland. The City of Los Angeles was economically unstable at the time, and so it sought help from the federal government.
In efforts to control the vegetation, the engineers would bulldoze areas of the river. According to Bowling, FoLAR’s founder Lewis McAdams tricked the engineers to stop bulldozing the fauna. “He would tell them that the mayor ordered them to stop bulldozing,” Bowling said.
The presentation moved on to discuss current ways the river has been revitalized and used. With the passing of California Senate Bill 1201 in 2012, recreational activities have started to develop in and around the river.
Activities include biking, kayaking, fishing and other outdoor recreations. Bowling said that there are three major soft-bottom areas of the riverbed that surrounding cities are investing in to revitalize. Soft-bottom areas are parts of the river that are not lined in concrete.
The soft bottoms include Glendale Narrows, Sepulveda Basin and the Long Beach Estuary.
In future projects, old railroad stations centered in and around the river will be turned into natural parks.
McAdams’s view of the future is to convert the Taylor Yard G2 train yard into a park. The train yard is almost the same size as Downtown Los Angeles.
Another talking point Bowling went over was the amount of trash that goes through the L.A. River and into the ocean.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”500px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Screen-Shot-2016-05-05-at-3.54.24-PM.png” align=”left” lightbox=”on” caption=”Long Beach Greens’ Activist Organizer Coby Skye (left) chats with a member of the audience during the Long Beach Area Group of the Sierra Club’s meeting on May 4.” captionposition=”left”] According to Bowling, that litter contributes to the large trash island, called the North Pacific Gyre, that is floating out in the Pacific Ocean.
“[FoLAR has] been cleaning up trash in the L.A. River for the last 27 years,” Bowling said. “We get it out of the river before it hits the ocean.”
He said that trash from the within the city flows out to the river through uncovered storm drains.
Audience member Iris Lovelace, 68, was happy with the presentation. She was surprised to hear that the fish caught in the river are healthy overall.
“I was pleased to hear that the fish had very little toxicity,” she said. “There’s a lot of oil and gas in our community, so that was a pleasant surprise.”
Although she was content with the FoLAR presentation, Lovelace felt the area of the river closest to Long Beach was not heavily mentioned.
“I had hoped to hear more on what was going to go on in Long Beach,” she said.
The presentation was part of the monthly meetings the Long Beach Area Group of the Sierra Club hosts. The club invites different people and groups to speak about environmental issues and outdoor activities. The meetings are every first Wednesday of the month.
