Upper Los Angeles Rivers & Tributaries Revitalization Plan

Upper Los Angeles Rivers & Tributaries Revitalization Plan

The Upper Los Angeles (LA) River and her tributaries are heavily channelized waterways that meander eastward through the San Fernando Valley, crossing multiple jurisdictions, and varied conditions. These unique challenges constrain state and local agencies as they attempt to manage, maintain, revitalize, and re-imagine the River. Assembly Bill (AB) 466 was created to develop a community-centric, watershed based revitalization plan for the Upper LA River and its Tributaries.

As part of the design team, Studio-MLA worked with the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) and the Upper LA River and Tributaries Working Group to develop a Revitalization Plan for the Upper LA River, Aliso Canyon Wash, Tujunga Wash, Pacoima Wash, Burbank Western Channel, Verdugo Wash, and Arroyo Seco.

To understand the potential, Studio-MLA mapped spatial obstacles and constraints including, but not limited to, government jurisdictions, land use, park access, pollution load, ecological habitat, water quality, flood risk, safe access, and connectivity. This information was used to assess economic, environmental, and social impacts and was used as the framework for a distributed approach for selecting opportunities throughout the project area.