The River Project Information

Rio de Los Angeles State Park is a bustling example of community engagement which led to ownership. With funding from the Taylor family heirs, The River Project coordinated the design of the park's colorful interpretive elements in partnership with local students, park activists, and artists. We continue to advocate for the realization of the community's vision-returning nature to the river through integration into the bowtie and G2 parcels-to form a seamless 100-acre Rio de Los Angeles State Park. In 2002, we began work on the Valleyheart Greenway in Studio City, directly engaging elementary-age students in the design. Working together with County staff we implemented the collaborative design and interpretive elements as the County's first greenway. We also undertook a surface water and groundwater study of the LA River through the Elysian Valley; and built a hydrodynamic model of the Tujunga Wash-since adopted by the Army Corps-to analyze alternatives to improve water management and support future restoration. In 2004, we initiated a stakeholder-driven process to develop a comprehensive watershed management plan for the upper Los Angeles River. Through partnerships between the City and County of Los Angeles, and the Department of Water & Power, more than a dozen projects identified in the plan have since been completed, five more will be completed by 2020, and another 5 are in the planning phase. In June of 2009, our Tujunga-Pacoima Watershed Plan was honored with the "Innovation in Green Community Planning" award from the American Planning Association. In 2011, we partnered with LADWP to implement the Woodman Avenue Median Retrofit, identified in the Tujunga-Pacoima Plan. The ¾ mile project transformed acres of asphalt into a community amenity that provides habitat, shade, cleaner water, 55 AFY (18M gallons) of local water supplies, and reduced flood risk. We also worked with the Dutch Consulate and the City of LA to organize the Room for the River Symposium, to explore the role of the river in an era of ...