This round of the sediment management plan won’t provide a sustainable solution to the problem (HCN, 5/14/12, “Los Angeles Against the Mountains”). But now is a good time to make the case for long-term solutions. For that, we’re going to have to rethink the flood control system, or rather, remember it as a functioning riparian ecosystem, and find some managed middle ground that lets gravity move sediment downstream. We’d regain the benefits of a natural, or at least semi-natural, stream. (A nice place to hang out! Aquifer recharge! Fish! Improved water quality!)
There are channelized reaches of rivers and streams that maintain basic riparian functions already — Glendale Narrows on the L.A. River, San Jose Creek, Las Virgenes Creek, to name a few — demonstrating that we can do it technically. But enough people are going to have to understand and see the relevance of these waterways to L.A.’s sustainability for a new paradigm to gain political traction.
Jessica Hall
Redondo Beach, California
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Let gravity do its thing.
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