North Atwater Creek

This path by the L.A. River was a favorite dog-walking place for me since I got the late, great Petey in 2001. There were not so many places to access the river in those days, and  I discovered this one while looking at a horse.  The presence of horses was one of the reasons it was a favorite place.

 I'd been walking there regularly for 5 years  2006, when I read "The Lost Streams of Los Angeles" by Judith Lewis in the L.A. Weekly Nov. 8, 2006.  It described Jessica Hall making her way through a hole in a fence to see a littered and smelly algae covered pond.  This was North Atwater Creek before restoration.  I read the article, but couldn't figure out where it was.  I'd never seen anything remotely resembling a creek.  It was only after the restoration began that I remembered having been in the creek.  No water when I was there, just lots of fresh green grasses, the descendants of the cereal crops of L.A.'s agricultural past.  I  met another lady with a dog, and greeted her while both our dogs nibbled on the grass.  That's all I had known of North Atwater Creek--a weedy place behind a fence.

The City of Los Angeles Stormwater program described it as the remnant of a seasonal stream that was mostly paved over by development and channeled into pipes.  The project's goal was to filter urban run-off before it fed into the L.A. River.

Official groundbreaking took place October 2010 reported in L.A. Creek Freak and L.A. Stormwater.

I took my first pictures of it April  2011.

They cleared out all the invasive non-native  plants (weeds)  and left this native tree.

They installed a lot of lovely lavender pipes.

and a few black ones.

From N. Atwater Park, it just looked like a hole in the ground.

In November, I saw a landscape taking shape

 It officially opened  April 12, 2012,  according to L.A. Stormwater and L.A. Eastsider.

The path along the river had re-opened.

A big pipe was used as landscape architecture.

and there were signs explaining water filtration and other features of the park.

The creek bed was fenced off so the young native plants could establish themselves without being disturbed.

I waited a few years before I returned and tried to photograph what I had seen before.

There's no more room for anarchist graffiti.

The lonely tree has company, now.

and there are wildflowers.

and winding paths

  In June 2014, L.A. Curbed discussed the possibility of expanding the park.  The Recreation and Parks Department Central Service Yard is immediately north.  When I saw it there was leftover wood

and interesting discarded stuff-

I haven't heard anything of these ideas since then.  

Big yellow trucks wait beyond the parking lot.  I don't know about the utility yard, but there are plans for a bridge that will allow pedestrians, bicyclists and equestrians

to cross the river and the unfortunately located Golden State Freeway into Griffith Park.

Ed Reyes River Greenway

There was a place I sometimes walked, at the end of Avenue 18 near railroad tracks and the L.A. River.   Three little houses were the remnant of an early 20th century neighborhood.  They had been built in 1905. All around were small and tired looking industrial buildings and the sprawling parking lots of the Young-Nak Presbyteran Church.  A chain link fence prevented entry to the river and the tracks.

One evening in May 2013.  I noticed construction was going on.   The gate to the fence had been left open, so I let my Buddy sniff around there.

I went home and found this picture, taken 4 years earlier.

From the historical picture I saw, it looked like there had been nothing but  an old road with railroad spurs before the land was cleared.

From the other side, at Avenue 19, it looked like this

I don't know when the news caught up with me that this was to be the Ed Reyes River Greenway. L.A. Stormwater had announced the groundbreaking in October 2012, but I knew nothing about it until the middle of 2013, at which time it was supposed to have opened already. 

I read that the was not just a small park.  In fact, being a park was to be the secondary function. there would be abiofiltration system to clean the urban runoff water from the storm drains that collects water from 135 acres of mostly industrial land.  This would be pumped by the solar power that would also light the park at night.

I took a few pictures through the chain link fence on Ave. 19 around that time.

It was working and ready to open in February 2014, but couldn't officially open until a fence was installed.  Materials had been stolen during the construction, so it could not be left unfenced.  However, the temporary fence was not doing much good, and I managed to slip in for a few pictures.  Because it was a project of the Bureau of Sanitation rather than the Department of Recreation and Parks, the usual funding was not available.

By April, men were at work installing fences on both sides.

Then in May, it opened at last.  The Matalija poppies were in bloom.  Buddy likes it here.

I photographed the informational panels explaining how the system works.  Things like these can get tagged up in a short period of time.

 It would be hard to read it all from your computer screen, so I've posted the words here:

“The Ed P. Reyes River greenway on the north bank of the Los Angeles River daylights stormwater runoff   from an existing storm drain that once delivered untreated runoff with high levels of pollution to the river.  The greenway mimics a dry-creek or arroyo ecosystem and supports a biological community that filters and further cleans runoff.  The non-motorized public access between Avenues 18 and 19 represents a new and emerging street type for our city called a “Stormwater Greenway.” As Stormwater Greeways enhance the natural processes that clean our waters, they also transform our streets by offering new economic, environmental, and social opportunities.

“Prior to the natural treatment process large quantities of trash and sediment are removed with a structure called a hydrodynamic separator.  This allows large sized pollutants to be easily collected and removed.  Next, dry-weather runoff and a managed volume of the most polluted stormwater runoff called the “first-flush” enters the basin.  Larger storm volumes either bypass the hydrodynamic separator, or enter the basin to overflow back to the original storm drain.  Solar panels drive the pumps that circulate stormwater to areas where it can be further treated, or “polished” by bacterial organisms, and used to water plants in the landcape.

“Green infrastructure relies on the power of sunlight, and the organism in soils and on plant roots to treat pollutants in stormwater runoff.  Because it is economical and provides recreational and habitat benefits, it is the City’s preferred approach  to maintain healthy waters and to support sustainable communities. Unlike traditional storm drain systems, which rely on pipes to move and to dispose of rainwater, green infrastructure directs runoff to locations where vegetation and natural processes help to control pollution.  Infiltration and reuse also helps to reduce flooding downstream.  Replacing concrete with living soils and other permeable surfaces, and providing more space for natural processes to flourish within our urban environments, enhances flood management, air quality, habitat, and recreational opportunities. The Ed P. Reyes River Greenway at the terminus of Humboldt Street is one of the first among many greenways proposed to extend the natural benefits of green infrastructure into our urban watersheds.

“While infiltration and evaporation reduce the volumes of water that flow downstream, specialized fungae called ”mycorrhize” create a vast network of cells called “hyphae” in the soil.  The huphae seek out water and nutrients bringing them nearer to root zones where bacteria, working in association with plant root hairs, naturally degrade or absorb pollutants.”

 When I achieve a greater understanding of this myself, I explain it in my own words.  In the meantime, I'm posting a few of the diagrams on the panels.

I thought that for something with so many ecological and esthetic benefits, the Ed. P. Reyes River Greenway was not getting enough fanfare.  

I was happy on Oct. 26, when the Greenway was blessed with dancers.  there were quite a few spectators, not just neighborhood dog owners.

It was presented by Pieter dance studio, as  part of Play the L.A. River.

This dancer had a costume made of rubber disposable gloves and crumpled newspaper, but unfortunately she was done dancing by the time I arrived.  

It's a great place to watch Metrolink roll by, too.

Even more exciting than the dancers was the rain that fell on the night of October 31.  Five days later, I heard the sound of water in the waterfall.  It's beautiful to see this creation at work.