NewsCastle
Los Angeles District
Vol. 43 No. 10
A monthly publication of the Los Angeles District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
October 2013
The Los Angeles District completed a landmark report Sept. 13, which details ecosystem restoration alternatives for an 11-mile stretch of the Los
Angeles River. (Photo by Kristen Skopeck)
USACE finalizes draft L.A. River study
Kristen Skopeck
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
finalized preparation of a draft report for the Los Angeles
River Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study and posted the
report to the Los Angeles District website Sept. 13.
The report will appear in the Federal Register Sept. 20,
which will trigger a public comment period that will help
inform a final report and result in the Corps’ recommendation to Congress.
The study recommends improvements that would
restore ecological value and habitat to the Los Angeles River
corridor, from Griffith Park to downtown Los Angeles.
The public comment period will officially run from Sept.
20 to Nov. 18. Individuals can submit comments to: [email protected].
The report can be found online at: http://www.spl.usace.
army.mil, but a paper copy of the complete report can also
be found at local repositories, to include Arroyo Seco Regional Branch Library, Los Angeles Central Library, Cypress
Park Branch Library, Atwater Village Branch Library, Lincoln
Heights Branch Library, Chinatown Branch Library, Little Tokyo Branch Library, and Benjamin Franklin Branch Library.
The draft report details four action alternatives named
10, 13, 16 and 20, in addition to a no-action alternative, and
identifies alternative 13 as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
tentatively selected plan, or TSP.
“We are asking for comments on all four alternatives,
and the Corps will consider every comment before a final rec-
ommendation is made,” said Col. Kim Colloton, commander
of the Los Angeles District. “That is why the selection of an
alternative, at this point in the process, is ‘tentative’. Transparency and community involvement are vitally important to this
effort.”
Colloton said the Corps, City of Los Angeles and stakeholders collaborated to put forward alternatives that would
improve the L.A. River ecosystem in a constrained funding
environment.
“The number one priority of the study is to restore the
river’s ecosystem while preserving the flood protection that
is provided by the existing channel system,” Colloton said.
“Alternative 13 does this, while restoring 588 acres of valley
foothill riparian wildlife habitat and aquatic habitat at a cost of
around $453 million.”
The Corps evaluated the four alternatives for costs, benefits and impacts.
“Hundreds of ideas were explored, and the best of these
were combined to come up with the final array of alternatives
in the draft report,” she said. “After evaluating each alternative,
number 13 was selected as the National Ecosystem Restoration
Plan that most reasonably maximizes net restoration benefits.”
The 11-mile stretch of river that is the focus of the study
exits in the nation’s second largest urban region, and improvements have the ability to positively impact millions of people,
as well as the flora and fauna.
Colloton said, “We and our partners have put tremendous
effort into developing the alternatives, and we appreciate any
and all comments.”