Media Contacts:
Nancy Vogel, California Natural Resources Agency
Nancy.Vogel@resources.ca.gov; 916-653-9402

Secretary Laird Appoints Members to Help Draft Revitalization Plan for the Lower Los Angeles River

April 5, 2016

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California Natural Resources Secretary John Laird announced 37 appointments to the new Lower Los Angeles River Working Group, which was created by recent legislation to develop a revitalization plan for the Lower Los Angeles River and its tributaries.

“We’ve got an opportunity to reimagine a concrete channel that runs through California’s biggest urban center and bring parks, greenery, and wildlife to communities starved of such amenities,” said Secretary Laird. “I am excited to make appointments that reflect the community participation and technical expertise needed to deliver a revitalization plan for the Lower Los Angeles River.”

The Los Angeles River flows about 51 miles from its source near Canoga Park to its mouth in Long Beach. The Lower section of the river stretches 19.6 miles from the northern city limit of Vernon and flows within one mile of 14 other cities and 4 unincorporated communities before emptying into San Pedro Bay.

Starting in the 1930s, most of the river was lined with concrete to prevent flooding. Efforts to restore stretches of the river have gained momentum since the 1990s. To date, the State has invested nearly $240 million in bond funds for projects on the Upper and Lower River. In 2014, voters statewide approved a new water bond that includes $100 million for the Los Angeles River.

Last fall, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. enacted AB 530 by now-Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount), which authorized the Secretary for Natural Resources, in coordination with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, to appoint a local working group to develop a revitalization plan for the Lower Los Angeles River that is consistent with, enhances, and is incorporated into the County of Los Angeles’s Master Plan for the entire Los Angeles River. The Lower Los Angeles River working group will begin meeting in April and will be led by the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy.

Under this new law, Secretary Laird announced the following appointments to the Lower Los Angeles River Working Group: