Join South Coast Trout Unlimited in its continuing partnership with Heal the Bay for their Coastal Cleanup Day.
We will be cleaning up the Los Angeles River and the adjacent park areas, from 9 a.m. until noon this Saturday (Sept. 18). Gloves and trash bags will be provided.
Most of the trash in the streets and parks make their way into the watershed via storm drains and eventually the ocean. You are doing your part to reduce the giant islands of plastic found floating in the middle of the ocean.
Please wear a hat and comfortable closed-toed shoes. Sunscreen and Hand sanitizer will be provided.
Stick around for the amazing raffle prizes as each participant will be given a raffle ticket, you might win a fishing pole
Meet at Lewis MacAdams Riverfront Park.
AND
SCTU is working on the Lower LA River, so drop by our booth and learn more about the Lower LA River Restoration and Access project.
LA River End Of Summer Festival Saturday, September 18 9am-2pm Hollydale Park: 5400 Monroe Avenue South Gate, CA 90280We have just launched the Lower LA River Channel Restoration and Access project page. Check it out here to learn more about the background and goals of this grant project. The conceptual designs are a first step in creating a naturalized bottom in the Lower LA River.
I wanted to invite you all to join in cleaning up our local fishing spot, the Bowtie Parcel at the LA River State Park. We’re working in conjunction with Heal the Bay to clean up our local waterways and we need help in conserving our own local spots. We’ll be gathering at the Bowtie Parcel at 9 a.m. on Saturday, September 15th and we’ll provide the stuff necessary to get it done. Bring a friend with you, and please sign up for the cleanup on eventbrite – the same place we all signed up for our fishing days.
As an added bonus we’ll get there early on the 15th and go fishing! So if you want to sharpen your skills and enjoy a day on the water bring your fishing poles and we’ll have some fun.
Register on Eventbrite.com, scroll down to LA River Bowtie State Park
What to bring to the cleanup:
Make sure you have signed a liability waiver. Without a signed liability waiver, you can not participate in the cleanup
We recommend bringing your own gloves (we will have one per person at the site)
Sunscreen
Bottle for water
Bucket for recyclable items
What is Recyclable?
YES: Glass, aluminum cans, tin cans, plastic drinking bottles.
NO: Everything else! (paper, plastic wrappers, Styrofoam, dirty items, etc.)
STEELHEAD imagery abounds on the Los Angeles River. (Jim Burns)
This thoughtful piece takes us out of hand-wringing mode about the Heal the Bay study, and, instead calls for a total clean up.
“Should the news released last week, after a Heal the Bay study, that the river is still polluted with harmful levels of fecal bacteria cool our optimistic jets about its restoration? It should not.”
A freight train roars by a graffiti-covered container in the currently desolate river section know as the Bowtie Parcel. (Jim Burns)
The nonprofit Heal the Bay, which publishes the yearly Beach Report Card, Wednesday released a 37-page water study of the Los Angeles River. Weekly water samples from Rattlesnake and Steelhead parks in the Elysian Valley and one in the Sepulveda Basin revealed a fecal indicator bacteria that exceeded federal standards.
“The study shows that popular recreation spots along the Los Angeles River suffer from very poor water quality, which poses health risks to the growing number of people who fish, swim and kayak in its waters,” according to a Heal the Bay press release.
More than six years ago, kayakers proved that the river was indeed a “traditional navigable waterway,” a legal term, and the Environmental Protection Agency invoked the Clean Water Act and triggered its protections.
“EPA is committed to a healthy L.A. River, and we will continue to work with our partners at the state, and other stakeholders like Heal the Bay, to improve water quality, habitat and recreational opportunities,” wrote EPA Public Affairs Specialist Soledad Calvino, in an email. “Water quality is an ongoing challenge in urban rivers, which require monitoring, assessment and measures to address pollutants from stormwater runoff and other sources.”
The EPA was reviewing the Heal the Bay findings at the time of this writing.
Closer to home, Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office lauded the fact that L.A. has made progress “by significantly reducing trashing in our stormwater and reducing spills by 85 percent of the last 10 years.
Kayaking activist George Wolfe was instrumental in establishing the Los Angeles River as a “navigable waterway,” which invoked the Clean Water Act. (Courtesy George Wolfe)
“However, bacterial levels tend to exceed federal standards, which is not a surprise for an urban river that receives runoff from more than 800 square miles of heavily populated areas,” according to Liz Crosson, the mayor’s water policy advisor.
Earlier this month, an old sewer pipe, built in 1929, ruptured in Boyle Heights, causing some 2.4 million gallons of effluent to spill into the river. Health officials closed both Seal Beach and Long Beach for a time. The largest spill in L.A. history comprised some 30 million gallons in 1998, blamed on El Nino storms.
The spill occurred miles from both recreation zones, which are both upriver.
Based on its findings, Heal the Bay recommends:
Kayaking and Angling: People should limit water contact, especially avoiding hand-to-face water contact. Users should not enter the water with an open wound, if immunocompromised, or after a rainfall. If there is water contact, rinse off with soap and water afterward.
Swimming: While many families recreate in the water, particularly on hot days, adults and children should avoid swimming in the L.A. River, particularly submersing their heads under water. We envision a swimmable L.A. River one day but current water quality is not yet at a healthful level. If there is any water contact, rinse off with soap and water afterward.
Public notification: All groups promoting recreation in the L.A. River should provide water quality information and best practices to all participants, using consistent, accurate and prominent information on all outreach materials, and in multiple languages, consistent with the demographics of visitors.
Increased monitoring: The City of Los Angeles or responsible municipal agency should institute, at a minimum, weekly water quality testing for fecal indicator bacteria in the recreation zones during the open season (Memorial Day to the end of September), and at other known swimming spots along the Los Angeles River.
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