The federal government on Wednesday designated Los Angeles River a full-fledged navigable waterway, affirming the river's tributaries qualify for Clean Water Act protections and settling a long-running dispute over its status.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said the waterway's use by watercraft, plans for restoration and other factors qualify it as a "traditional navigable water." She announced the designation at a news conference on the banks of south Los Angeles' Compton Creek, which feeds into the river.
"This designation assures the community that their local waters are protected by the nation's water laws," Jackson said in a prepared statement. "A clean, vibrant LA River system can help revitalize struggling communities, promoting growth and jobs for residents of Los Angeles."
Lined with concrete along most of its route to prevent meandering and flooding, the Los Angeles River flows at a trickle, if at all, during dry periods but can turn into a raging torrent during storms.
Jackson said Los Angeles Basin wetlands and natural streams would be assured a measure of protection from pollution and development by the river's reaffirmed status as a navigable waterway.
The EPA's designation represents a turnaround from two years ago, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed declaring only small portions of the Los Angeles River to be traditional navigable waters two years ago.
Advocates for the river feared the designation would weaken federal protections for many of the tributaries that feed the river, since only waterways with "navigable" status are subject to the Clean Water Act.
The EPA later stepped in and took jurisdiction over the river, which runs 51 miles from the northwestern San Fernando Valley, around the eastern side of downtown Los Angeles and south to Long Beach harbor.
Jackson was joined at Wednesday's news conference in south Los Angeles County by county Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who announced the acquisition of a five-acre parcel of land that had been the only segment along the nine-mile Compton Creek not in public hands.
The county used $1.5 million from a voter-approved park-funding bond measure to buy the property, Ridley-Thomas' environment deputy Karly Katona said.
The newly purchased segment, with its soft soil bottom, is an anomaly along the otherwise mostly cement-lined Compton Creek. Ridley-Thomas said its relatively natural state made it a good place to contemplate the environmental restoration efforts and flood-control improvements needed all along the creek, most of which is managed by the Corps of Engineers.
He noted federal and county officials had determined that the levee system protecting the lower parts of Compton Creek don't have the capacity to contain a so-called 100-year storm, or a storm of an intensity reached only once per century.
"The Army Corps of Engineers must work with the county on an ecosystem restoration study to address increasing flood protection concerns within the Compton Creek watershed," Ridley-Thomas said in a statement. "Alternatives must be identified that address the public safety, natural habitat, recreational opportunities and economic vitality of the creek and the overall watershed."
