Tales of the L.A. River

To most Angelenos, it’s little more than a network of non-descript concrete channels slicing through the heart of urban Los Angeles between Canoga Park and Long Beach. But once upon a time, the Los Angeles River was a vast natural waterway that blessed the region with abundant supplies of water, and periodically cursed it with devastating floods.

That all changed when the Los Angeles Flood of 1938—one of our region’s worst natural disasters, destroying numerous properties and claiming more than 100 lives—also swept out the corrupt administration of Los Angeles Mayor Frank Shaw in the nation’s first mayoral recall. Exhausted residents called in the Army Corps of Engineers, which finally tamed the wild river by reducing it to the channelized floodway system we have today.

And yet, environmentalists and wild-river advocates still dream of what was, and what might be.

On Tuesday, February 15, at 7:30 pm, you can hear from one of them when writer Jenny Price shares her river stories at Temescal Gateway Park in the Pacific Palisades. The program is sponsored by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and presented by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority as part of their ongoing Chautauqua Series of educational presentations. It takes place at the park’s Woodland Hall, and both the 90-minute program and parking are free.

Temescal Gateway Park is located at 15601 Sunset Blvd. in Pacific Palisades. Full information and directions to the park may be found here.

Posted 2/10/11