Designers Look to Revamp Los Angeles’s River
Because of this unfortunate oversight, the Army Corps of Engineers determined that the Los Angeles River was not made up of “traditionally navigable waters.” Deemed unnavigable, the river lost its shot at federal funding that could have helped to tidy it up, including dollars from the Clean Water Act.
So that’s why July 7 was a really big day for the not-quite-river: Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency stood on its banks and made a sweeping statement that reversed its previous decision. The Los Angeles River was once again a river.
The Friends of the LA River are planning on transforming it into the tongue-in-cheek Piggy Backyard, a park and mixed-use development which will offer the first truly revitalized and redeveloped portion of the river.