Editing Los Angeles River (section)

==History==<!-- This section is linked from [[Los Angeles, California]] -->

[[File:Los Angeles River at Griffith Park, ca.1898-1910 (CHS-2033).jpg|thumb|left|Los Angeles River at Griffith Park, {{circa}} 1898–1910]]

Until the opening of the [[Los Angeles Aqueduct]] in 1913, the Los Angeles River was the main water source for the [[Los Angeles Basin]]. The river ran dry during the summers and flooded during winter months. Indigenous communities adapted to the climate surrounding the river, maximizing agricultural yields by rerouting the natural flow of the river and constructing water wheels along the river.<ref name=":3" />

The river provided water and food to the [[Tongva people]], hunters and gatherers who lived primarily off [[fish]], small [[mammal]]s, and the [[acorn]]s from the abundant [[oak]] trees along the river's path. There were at least 45 Tongva villages near the Los Angeles River, concentrated in the San Fernando Valley and the Elysian Valley, in what is present-day Glendale.<ref name="Linton2005">{{cite book |author=Joe Linton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x17EIPKubCUC&pg=PA5 |title=Down By the Los Angeles River: Friends of the Los Angeles Rivers Official Guide |date=14 October 2005 |publisher=Wilderness Press |isbn=978-0-89997-391-3 |page=5 |access-date=7 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704132351/http://books.google.com/books?id=x17EIPKubCUC&pg=PA5 |archive-date=4 July 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> After the Spanish established [[Mission San Gabriel]] in 1771, they referred to the Tongva living in that mission's vicinity as [[Gabrieleño]].

=== Alta California ===
{{See also|Alta California}}
In 1769, members of the [[Portolá expedition]] to explore [[Alta California]] were the first Europeans to see the river. On August 15, the party camped near the river, somewhere along the stretch just to the north of what is now the [[Interstate 10]] crossing near downtown Los Angeles. Fray [[Juan Crespi]], one of two [[Franciscan]] missionaries traveling with Portolá, named it ''el río de Nuestra Señora La Reina de Los Ángeles de Porciúncula''. Crespi chose that name, because August 15 is the date of the yearly Catholic [[feast day]] in honor of the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary's]] Assumption into Heaven and assuming the [[Titles of Mary|role]] as Queen of the Angels, to which the small [[Portiuncula]] chapel, where the Franciscan Order began in [[Assisi|Assisi, Italy]], is dedicated. The river was thereafter referred to as the "Porciuncula River". In later years, the "Los Angeles" part of Crespi's lengthy name won out.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bolton |first=Herbert E. |pages=146–147 |year=1927 |title=Fray Juan Crespi: Missionary Explorer on the Pacific Coast, 1769–1774 |url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000288788 |publisher=HathiTrust Digital Library |access-date=6 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140322103835/http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000288788 |archive-date=2014-03-22 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Ed Hunt crossing the L.A. River on horse in 1911 (00008087).jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|right|Ed Hunt, Griffith Park policeman, in the Los Angeles River, 1911]]

=== Possession by the United States ===
{{See also|Mexican–American War|California statehood}}
Control of California, along with the rest of the northern part of the republic of Mexico, was wrested by the United States in the [[Mexican–American War|Mexican-American War]] (1846-1848). California became a state in 1850, and the Los Angeles area began to boom the following year.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=The Los Angeles River |url=https://www.theriverproject.org/learn/the-los-angeles-river-watershed |access-date=2022-04-06 |website=The River Project |language=en-US}}</ref> Generations of settlers and city managers drained, rerouted, polluted and overpopulated the river and its watershed.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-06-25 |title=Efforts to Restore the Los Angeles River Collide With a Gentrifying City |url=https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2018-4-july-august/feature/efforts-restore-los-angeles-river-California-collide-gentrifying-city |access-date=2022-04-06 |website=Sierra Club |language=en}}</ref>

The river was originally an [[alluvial]] river that ran freely across a [[flood plain]] that is now occupied by Los Angeles, Long Beach, and other townships in [[Southern California]]. Its path was unstable and unpredictable, and the mouth of the river moved frequently from one place to another between Long Beach and Ballona Creek. Floods damaged extensive amounts of farmland, destroying houses and killing people and livestock. Severe flooding encouraged those living near the river to adapt and construct further away from the river in order to prevent loss from flooding.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Price |first=Jenny |date=2008-07-01 |title=Remaking American Environmentalism: On the Banks of the L.A. River |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/envhis/13.3.536 |journal=Environmental History |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=536–555 |doi=10.1093/envhis/13.3.536 |issn=1084-5453}}</ref> In the early 19th century, the river turned southwest after leaving the [[Glendale Narrows]], where it joined [[Ballona Creek]] and discharged into [[Santa Monica Bay]] in present Marina del Rey.<ref name="LAT 2022-03-01">{{Cite news |last=Morrison |first=Patt |date=2022-03-01 |title=Why we turned the L.A. River into a freeway (for water) |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-03-01/why-we-turned-the-la-river-into-a-freeway-for-water |access-date=2022-03-02 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> However, this account is challenged by Col. J. J. Warner, in his ''Historical Sketch of Los Angeles County'':<blockquote>"...until 1825 it was seldom, if in any year, that the river discharged even during the rainy season its waters into the sea. Instead of having a river way to the sea, the waters spread over the country, filling the depressions in the surface and forming lakes, ponds and marshes. The river water, if any, that reached the ocean drained off from the land at so many places, and in such small volumes, that no channel existed until the flood of 1825, which, by cutting a river way to tide water, drained the marsh land and caused the forests to disappear."<ref>{{Cite web|title = Full text of "A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present"|url = https://archive.org/stream/historyofcaliforsccts01guin/historyofcaliforsccts01guin_djvu.txt|website = archive.org|access-date = 2015-07-10|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160407004905/https://archive.org/stream/historyofcaliforsccts01guin/historyofcaliforsccts01guin_djvu.txt|archive-date = 2016-04-07|url-status = live}}</ref></blockquote>The river was long joined by the [[San Gabriel River (California)|San Gabriel River]] in present-day [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]], but in the [[Great Flood of 1862]], the San Gabriel carved out a new course {{convert|6|mi|km}} to the east, and has discharged into [[Alamitos Bay]] ever since. The arrival of the railroad accelerated the advancement in urbanization, as various government bodies subdued the river by reducing its flow.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HISTORY OF THE LOS ANGELES RIVER |url=https://ladpw.org/wmd/watershed/LA/History.cfm |access-date=2022-02-23 |website=ladpw.org}}</ref> Until the 1900s the river was known to supply enough water to incorporate a system of wells to be built in order to supply freshwater to the city.

=== 20th century ===
[[File:Los Angeles District - Los Angeles River Subproject No. 129 - E.R.A. and Regular Funds - Hired Labor - Taken April... - NARA - 295356 -enhanced.jpg|thumb|Placing of concrete in a section of the counterforted channel wall on the left bank just above 26th Street in the city of Los Angeles, 1938.]]

The [[Los Angeles Aqueduct]] was opened in 1913.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Deverell William & |first=Sitton Tom |title=Water and Los Angeles: A Tale of Three Rivers, 1900-1941 |publisher=University of California Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-520-96597-3}}</ref> The heavy flow of the Los Angeles River presented many issues, as it began to get exploited as a sewer system. Along with these uses, populations surrounding the river often tossed feces and waste into the river, along with dead dogs and horses (and the occasional dead human), in hopes that they would get washed down stream and released to the open ocean waters.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last1=Post |first1=Jason Michael |last2=Carter |first2=Perry |title=Unnatural Nature: Anglers Reimaginings of the Los Angeles River as Parkland |date=2022-03-15 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00167428.2020.1866953 |journal=Geographical Review |language=en |volume=112 |issue=2 |pages=207–227 |doi=10.1080/00167428.2020.1866953 |bibcode=2022GeoRv.112..207P |s2cid=234133066 |issn=0016-7428}}</ref>

=== War on Water Rights ===
{{Further|California water wars}}
In the early 1920s, the [[Los Angeles Department of Water and Power]] (led by the Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners) negotiated and gradually purchased almost all of [[Owens Valley]] farms and their corresponding water rights.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilkman |first=Jon |date=2016 |title=Floodpath |url=https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20018474W/Floodpath |pages=72–75 |language=en}}</ref> The farmers with the most water banded together to form the Owens Valley Irrigation District in order to try to secure a better deal. When the Owens Valley Irrigation District did not succeed, they created three smaller groups in order to try to bargain. These groups were turbulent in their efforts; resorting to violence, trying to get the attention of state and national press, and calling for politician interference to support their demands for more compensation. This conflict was so highly disputed that the national press referred to it as "California's Little Civil War."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Libecap |first=Gary D. |date=2009-10-01 |title=Chinatown Revisited: Owens Valley and Los Angeles—Bargaining Costs and Fairness Perceptions of the First Major Water Rights Exchange |journal=The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=311–338 |doi=10.1093/jleo/ewn006 |issn=8756-6222}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Kahrl |first1=William L |title=Water & power: the conflict over Los Angeles' water supply in the Owens Valley |publisher=University of California Press |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-520-05068-6 |language=English |oclc=234289861}}</ref>

The [[St. Francis Dam]] was built starting in 1924 (and through 1926), leading to the creation of a large reservoir in [[San Francisquito Canyon]], and provided water for Los Angeles. The dam collapsed in 1928.
[[File:1938 Los Angeles flood in North Hollywood (9).jpg|thumb|Los Angeles flood in North Hollywood in 1938]]
The 1930s in particular saw rapid urban development in areas prone to river flooding.<ref name=":1" /> Despite smaller mitigation efforts than the St. Francis Dam, unpredictable and devastating floods continued to plague it well into the 1930s, including:
* [[Crescenta Valley flood (1933 and 1934)]] - a flood on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day devastated the communities of [[La Crescenta-Montrose, California|La Crescenta, Montrose]], [[La Cañada Flintridge, California|La Cañada]], and [[Tujunga, California|Tujunga]].
* [[Los Angeles Flood of 1938]] - This flood precipitated the recall of then-mayor of Los Angeles [[Frank L. Shaw]], leading to calls for flood control measures.

The incidents resulted in the [[US Army Corps of Engineers]] beginning an ambitious project of encasing the river's bed and banks in [[concrete]].<ref name=splhist>{{cite web
| url = https://www.spl.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Stories/Article/477249/the-la-river-and-the-corps-a-brief-history/
| title = The LA River and the Corps: A brief history
| publisher = U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
| access-date = 2014-03-08
| url-status = live
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140308203118/http://www.spl.usace.army.mil/Media/NewsStories/tabid/1318/Article/18853/the-la-river-and-the-corps-a-brief-history.aspx
| archive-date = 2014-03-08
}}</ref> The only portions of the river that are not paved over are in the flood-control basin behind the [[Sepulveda Dam]] near [[Van Nuys, Los Angeles|Van Nuys]]; an 11-mile (17.7-km) stretch east of [[Griffith Park]] known as the [[Glendale Narrows]]; and along its last few miles in Long Beach.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

=== After World War II ===
The river was dry for nine months of the year as late as the 1950s. According to an August 2013 article in the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', the water in the river today is largely "industrial and residential discharge," which originates from the "two giant pipes that collect the sewage from the homes of 800,000 San Fernando Valley residents" that lead to the [[Tillman Water Reclamation Plant]], "before crashing over a man-made waterfall into Lake Balboa. That body of water, along with two smaller ones, puts 23 million gallons of water a day into the river at Sepulveda Basin."<ref>{{Cite news
| last = Smith
| first = Doug
| quote = Angelenos' vision of their river is created from a made-up memory. Historically, the river has been dry for most of the year. Now, it flows continually, but most of the water in the channel is industrial and residential discharge |date=2013-08-16|title=Angelenos' vision of their river is created from a made-up memory|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-smith-river-20130816-story.html|access-date=2022-02-02|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:2021-10-05 14 20 34 View southwest along the Los Angeles River and Interstate 710 towards the Port of Long Beach in southern Los Angeles County, California from an airplane heading toward Los Angeles International Airport.jpg|thumb|LA River in October 2021]]
Despite the heavy flood flows of the river during winter months, the LA river has become a refuge for marginalized communities, such as migrant, homeless, and diverse sociocultural communities. For a time, the river itself was a geographical divide between East L.A., which is largely Latino, and predominantly white, wealthy West L.A.<ref name=":02"/> These minority groups established themselves along the banks of the river, using fish for food. A distinguished link between the LA river and marginalization can be seen through time as a 1909 New York Times article describes these communities as poor transient communities that consume diseased fish to sustain themselves.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Remediation efforts in order to tame the river along with the construction of highways in the 1950s and 1960s displaced hundreds of thousands of individuals. These implications lead to poor air quality and increased exposure to diseases that inhibit good health.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-01-11 |title=Frank Gehry's bold plan to upgrade the L.A. River seeks to atone for past injustices |url=https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2021-01-11/frank-gehry-plan-los-angeles-river |access-date=2022-04-06 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>