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Long Beach May Look for Ways to Hold Upriver Areas Accountable When Sewage Spoils Beaches

/in , /by /Long Beach Post by Jason Ruiz

As temperatures reached the 80s and people flocked to the shore for beach cleanups on Earth Day last month, an order to stay out of the water dampened what could have been a very busy beach weekend after months of wet weather in Long Beach.

The beach closure was prompted by the second sewage spill of 2023 that resulted in 250,000 gallons of raw sewage entering the Los Angeles River near Downey and making its way toward Long Beach where the river’s mouth dumps its contents into the ocean.

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L.A. Has $556 Million and a Plan to Capture More Storm Water. But Will They Ever Do It?

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ralph Vartabedian

After a series of storms drenched the region with a record 9.4 inches of rain in December, the Los Angeles River became a roiling, violent torrent in its concrete channel, before finally spilling into the Pacific Ocean.

The storms transported an estimated 29.5 billion gallons of fresh water into Long Beach Harbor — 62% more water than the nation’s largest desalination plant in San Diego produces in an entire year. It was enough to supply as many as 181,000 families annually.

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Opinion: Why We Turned the L.A. River Into a Freeway (for Water)

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Patt Morrison

If the Los Angeles River had its own IMDb listing — and why shouldn’t it? It’s appeared in all kinds of movies — its career arc would look something like this:

  • Leading man for tens of thousands of years, star and creator of the epic story of Los Angeles’ ecosystem and living things.
  • Demoted to a supporting role around 1913, when L.A.’s new producers and directors began importing younger, more reliable water.
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Could the LA River Dry Up? Fears Grow as Cities Recycle More Wastewater

/in , /by /Spectrum News 1

For most of the year, the Los Angeles River is sustained by a flow of wastewater.

Now, a battle is brewing between environmentalists and wastewater recycling advocates about where that wastewater should go. In an interview for “LA Times Today,” staff writer Louis Sahagun told host Lisa McRee about the water fight and the future of the LA River.

Much of the water in the LA River is treated sewer water. Most of it comes from toilet and sinks and is discharged by Glendale, Burbank and city of LA.

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LA Has Plan for Network of Waterways in the Land of Cars

/in , /by /Courthouse News Serviceby Martin Macias Jr and Bill Girdner

Kneeling on its concrete bank, Silva reached down through the water of the Los Angeles River and pulled out the perfect thing: a handful of mud.

He makes freshwater aquariums, and the mud of the river makes for the perfect base. “It has worms, nemotodes, rocks, it’s all there.”

With long hair banded back, he put the precious mud into two Home Depot orange buckets.

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LA River Restoration Effort Lands $1.8 Million

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Daily Newsby City News Service

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded more than $1.8 million to help fund a cleanup and revitalization effort for 700 acres of open space along the Los Angeles River from Griffith Park to downtown, local officials announced today.

The funding will go toward pre-construction engineering and design for the Los Angeles River Ecosystem Restoration Project. The project received $400,000 in 2016 and $100,000 in 2017.

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