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A New Destination For Kayakers: The L.A. River?

Los Angeles officials want the L.A. River to become a wildlife habitat.
Mandalit del Barco
/
NPR
Los Angeles officials want the L.A. River to become a wildlife habitat.

The once-polluted and often ridiculed Los Angeles River is now open to kayak and canoe adventures. The L.A. Conservation Corps and the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority are running a pilot program that allows people to explore the river.

In the South American rain forest, I once paddled in a dugout canoe through the lush Amazon River, filled with pink dolphins and flesh-eating piranhas. So the thought of navigating down the Los Angeles River at first seemed almost ridiculous.

Most of the 51 miles is a trickle of water in a concrete ditch, a sewer leading to the Pacific Ocean, a Hollywood setting for drag races and car chases.

But the other morning, I found myself in a two-person canoe on a stretch of the river from Van Nuys to Burbank. I had to hold my recording equipment and camera, so L.A. City Councilman Ed Reyes did all the paddling.

"Just pretend we're in Venice," he joked, as a guide began singing, "When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie ..."

L.A. City Councilman Ed Reyes used to explore the L.A. River back in the 1960s. He says the water is a lot cleaner today than it was then.
/ Courtesy of Tony Perez
/
Courtesy of Tony Perez
L.A. City Councilman Ed Reyes used to explore the L.A. River back in the 1960s. He says the water is a lot cleaner today than it was then.

This part of the L.A. River can get waist deep. There's dirt on the bottom, and willow trees and sycamores burst through the concrete along the banks. Officials want more of the L.A. River to become like this: a wildlife habitat.

Reyes has invited fifth-graders from a L.A.'s Leo Politi Elementary School to explore with us.

"You guys ever been on the river before?" he asks the 10-year-olds.

"No," they shout in unison.

"The reason you're so special," he tells them, "is you're the first group of students that will be able to say, 'I was on the river and did not get arrested.' It's legal to do this."

A Fast-Flowing River

Three years ago, environmentalist and writer George Wolfe paddled the river in a suit and tie.

"This was to draw attention to how crazy commuting is in L.A.," Wolfe explains from the bank of the Ballona Creek, which was once part of the L.A. River. "So here was this guy who got so fed up he leaves his car on the freeway and he gets in a kayak and goes from his home in Valley to Long Beach."

Three years ago, environmentalist and writer George Wolfe paddled the river in a suit and tie. He featured the prank on a YouTube video. Later, he helped lead an expedition through the entire 51 miles of the L.A.  River "to demonstrate that it was navigable so that it could then be protected under the Clean Water Act."
Mandalit del Barco / NPR
/
NPR
Three years ago, environmentalist and writer George Wolfe paddled the river in a suit and tie. He featured the prank on a YouTube video. Later, he helped lead an expedition through the entire 51 miles of the L.A. River "to demonstrate that it was navigable so that it could then be protected under the Clean Water Act."

As head of a satirical website called the LaLa Times, Wolfe featured the prank on a YouTube video. Later, he helped lead a "Lewis and Clark"-type expedition through the entire 51 miles of the L.A. River "to demonstrate that it was navigable so that it could then be protected under the Clean Water Act, which was in jeopardy at the time."

Wolfe, who now leads L.A. River Expeditions, says his research helped spur the Environmental Protection Agency to federally protect the L.A. River. He credits the Army Corps of Engineers with greenlighting the kayak pilot program.

Engineer John Sweeten says it's a change in perspective for the corps.

"Decades ago, we tried to keep everybody out of the river, cause it's very dangerous," he explains from his office downtown. "This river's designed to flow way faster than anything you've ever really experienced in nature."

The Army Corps built the channel from the 1930s to the 1960s to control flooding. So now, when it rains hard, just 6 inches of water in this river can move so fast, it can knock over a 300-pound person.

Signs Of The City

Back on the water, Reyes recounts to the children how he and his brother used to explore the L.A. River back in the 1960s.

"We used to get rubber tires and pieces of wood and we'd just float," he says.

One of the kids asks Reyes: "What did you use to paddle?"

"Our arms," Reyes says, laughing. "The water's a lot cleaner today than it was then."

Reyes says maybe they shouldn't have gone into the water after all.

Even though environmentalists regularly clean up this part of the river, there are still signs we're in the city. On the riverbanks, used plastic bags hang from the branches, which have graffiti tags carved into them. Spray paint cans, foam cups and water bottles bob on the water.

"It's all part of the urban slobber," Reyes says. "It sounds disgusting, but it makes people think."

During our two-hour trip, guides from the L.A. Conservation Corps helped us down the rockier parts, what they called "rapids."

In the shallow stretches, we got out and walked. There was one more natural section without concrete they dubbed "The Grand Canyon."

We saw a footlong carp, a cover of coots and a siege of herons.

By the end of the trip, when I finally started rowing, the children had counted 32 discarded shopping carts. And one kid, Arvin Gonzalez, was fearless enough to jump in the shallow river.

He says the water was cold but also warm, and I ask if he thinks it's clean.

"I'll swim in it," he says as he smiles.

What will he tell his friends about the L.A. River?

"It was really fun," he says, adding that he'll tell people to not pollute in the streets. "If it rains, the trash goes in the drainpipe; the trash ends up in the river, then the river will take the trash to the ocean."

These kids from L.A.'s Pico Union neighborhood rarely get to spend time in nature. It may not be the Amazon, but they say this was the best field trip ever.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Corrected: September 20, 2011 at 10:00 PM MDT
The audio of this story incorrectly says, as did a previous Web version, that the river exploration pilot program is run by L.A. city officials and the Army Corps of Engineers. The program is actually run by the L.A. Conservation Corps and the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority. Additionally, we said that the trip guides were from the California Conservation Corps. They were with the L.A. Conservation Corps.
Corrected: September 20, 2011 at 10:00 PM MDT
The audio of this story incorrectly says, as did a previous Web version, that the river exploration pilot program is run by L.A. city officials and the Army Corps of Engineers. The program is actually run by the L.A. Conservation Corps and the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority. Additionally, we said that the trip guides were from the California Conservation Corps. They were with the L.A. Conservation Corps.
As an arts correspondent based at NPR West, Mandalit del Barco reports and produces stories about film, television, music, visual arts, dance and other topics. Over the years, she has also covered everything from street gangs to Hollywood, police and prisons, marijuana, immigration, race relations, natural disasters, Latino arts and urban street culture (including hip hop dance, music, and art). Every year, she covers the Oscars and the Grammy awards for NPR, as well as the Sundance Film Festival and other events. Her news reports, feature stories and photos, filed from Los Angeles and abroad, can be heard on All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Weekend Edition, Alt.latino, and npr.org.