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L.A. Regional Water Board Files Notice of Intent to Sue U.S. Army
Corps of
Engineers for Water Quality Violations
Cites Violations of Federal Clean Water Act at Verdugo Wash and
Sepulveda Basin
The
Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (Los Angeles
Water Board) has issued a 60-day notice of intent to sue the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) for two unauthorized
dredge and fill operations in Los Angeles County that violated
the federal Clean Water Act and the California Porter-Cologne
Water Quality Control Act.
The Water Board is being represented in the matter by the
California Attorney General's office.
Click
HERE to read more.
Click
HERE to
read the entire Finding
of No Significant Impact
for the Vegetation Management plan.
Click
HERE to read the letter sent to ACOE
by the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Areas Steering Committee.
Click
HERE
to read the ACOE's response to the SBWASC letter.
Click
HERE
to see ACOE's web page about this issue.
Click
HERE
to read Daily News article about clear cutting of South Reserve.
Click
HERE
to read L.A. Times article "Army Corps of Engineers clear-cuts lush
habitat in Valley",
HERE
to read follow-up article.
Click
HERE to view YouTube video about the
destruction.
Click
HERE and
HERE to see Encino Patch articles with
additional photos.
Click HERE
to read letter from San Fernando
Valley Audubon Society about clear cut.
Click
HERE to read KCET blog by Carren Jao.
Click
HERE
to read letter from State Senator Fran Pavley.
Click HERE
to read letter from State Senator Luis de Leon.
Click HERE
to view video entitled "Wildlife Refuge Meets Army Corps of Engineers"
by a concerned citizen.
Click
HERE
to read an editorial by Charles Miller on the KCET blog.
Click
HERE
to read story in the LA Weekly.
Click
HERE
to read Congressman Brad Sherman's letter to Colonel Toy.
Regional Water Board Investigation - click
HERE
for Encino Patch article.
Click
HERE
to read NRDC blog by David Pettit
Click
HERE
for Jan 13 update on the Sepulveda Wildlife Reserve.
Click
HERE
for Feb. 12 update by Army Corps of Engineers
Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board
Click
HERE
to read Investigative Order by Regional Water Board
Click
HERE
to read Water Board Additional Request (with images)
Click
HERE
for link to Army Corp Response (Cover
Letter
and
Engineering Technical Report)
San
Fernando Valley Audubon Society's
COMMENTS
in regards to the USACE Technical Report,
which was their response to the LARWQCB Investigative Order R4-2013-0001
Click
HERE
to read the Ad Hoc River Committee Report to the LA City Feb. 25, 2013
On March 19, 2013
the City Council passed the Sepulveda Basin habitat destruction
motion authored by Councilmember Jan Perry.
Click here to view the video clip, scroll down to Item 6.
Here
are the adopted recommendations:
AD HOC RIVER COMMITTEE REPORT
relative to the eradication and loss of habitats
in the San Fernando Valley Sepulveda Basin.
Recommendations for Council action, as initiated by
Motion (Perry - LaBonge):
1. INSTRUCT the Bureau of Sanitation and Planning Department,
in coordination with the Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA), and in
consultation with the City Attorney, the United States Corps of
Engineers, the Audubon Society, Friends of the Los Angeles
River, and any other pertinent entity, to prepare a report that
explains the recent loss of 43 acres of bird, mammal, and
reptile habitat in the San Fernando Valley's Sepulveda Basin
without preparation of an Environmental Impact Report.
2. INSTRUCT the Bureau of Sanitation and Planning Department
to include in the report if any endangered species were
compromised, and whether there will be any detrimental impacts
to air quality, and if any improvements were paid for with
public funds or charitable contributions, and information as to
which departments, if any, are responsible for overseeing
projects that the Federal government is involved within City
boundaries.
3. REQUEST the Commander of the Los Angeles District of the
Army Corps, to present to the City Council their Vegetation
Management Plan as well as a summary of additional community
input they receive from follow-up meetings, and the results of
the investigation of the loss of the 43 acres habitat.
4. REQUEST the Army Corps to work with the Bureau of
Sanitation to come up with a collaborative agreement that meets
the Army Corps' needs, the community’s concerns, and addresses
the Regional Water Quality Board’s requests.
5. DIRECT the Bureau of Sanitation to act as the City lead,
to provide support so that all interested parties can create a
well received next phase mitigation plan.
6. REQUEST the Army Corps and the Bureau of Sanitation to come
back with a plan within four to five months and provide a status
report on the coordinated effort.
VIDEOS
Click
HERE
to view a "before" and "after" video of the Sepulveda Wildlife Reserve
south.
Click
HERE
for part 1 and
HERE
for part 2 of Jan 13 Sierra Club video hike through "cleared" area.
Click
HERE
to find out about the history and wildlife of what used to be the South
Reserve.
Click HERE
to visit the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society's web site that has
recommendations as to who to send comments, and other links.
2009 - 2012
Sepulveda
Basin Master Plan Update
FINAL DOCUMENTS
Sepulveda Dam Master Plan
Maps
Land Use Classification
Existing Recreation and Flood Frequency Contours
Vegetation
Special Status Taxa
Occurrences
Real Estate
Restoration Opportunities
Appendices
Master Plan and the EA and appendixes that include the parts most
pertinent to wildlife concerns (not including maps)
Click Below to Download Draft PDF's
Sepulveda Dam
Master Plan
Land Use Classification Map
Sepulveda Dam Maps
Appendices
Donald C.
Tillman Water Reclamation Plant In-Plant Storage Project
The public notice is available at
http://bit.ly/oYT26M.
The draft Environmental Assessment is available for review at
http://bit.ly/plxiK1.
KAYAKING IN THE L.A. RIVER IN THE SEPULVEDA BASIN
Mayor Villaraigosa (front of canoe) taking a tour along the L.A. River,
2011
Final Environmental Assessment
and Finding of No Significant Impact for a
License for a Non-Motorized Boating Pilot Program on the Los Angeles River,
Sepulveda Basin,
Los Angeles County, California
A copy of the final EA/FONSI is available here:
http://bit.ly/nr0bPR (5.45MB PDF)
Email to Army Corp from Steve Hartman (SBWASC) and Kris Ohlenkamp (SFV
Audubon) regarding bird survey taken July 6, 2011 (July 8, 2011)
click here to view .pdf file
Letter to Army Corp from Sierra Club
(July 8, 2011)
click here to view .pdf file
Letter to Army Corp from S.F. Valley Audubon regarding Kayaking in the L.A. River (July
4, 2011)
click here to view
.pdf file
Letter to Army Corp from SBWASC regarding Kayaking in the L.A. River (June
30, 2011)
click here to view .pdf file
Letter to Army Corp from S.F. Valley Audubon regarding Kayaking in the L.A.
River (June 28, 2011)
click here to view .pdf file
According to an
article in the Los Angeles Times by Louis Sahagun (June 25, 2011)
there are plans to launch kayak trips along the Los Angeles River.
Find the article at
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-la-river-20110625,0,5794583.story
Environmental Assessment: License for Pilot Non-Motorized Boating Program
within the Los Angeles River, Sepulveda Basin (July 17, 2011)
http://www.spl.usace.army.mil/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1997&Itemid=2
Los Angeles River Non-Motorized Boating Pilot Program Recommendations (March
25, 2011)
City of Los Angeles Inter-Departmental Correspondence
click here to view .pdf file
City Council Motion on Non-Motorized Boating in the L.A. River (August 10,
2010)
click here to view .pdf file
Nesting bird and sensitive-species surveys of sites along the Los Angeles
River and tributaries (April 29, 2011)
Cooper Ecological Monitoring
click here to view .pdf
file
Recommendations for Near-Term Recreational Access and Use of the Los Angeles
River (January 2011)
by Friends of the Los Angeles River
click here to
view .pdf file
Navigability and Jurisdiction Evaluation of Los Angeles River Completed
According to a Los Angeles Times article dated July 8, 2010 by Louis
Sahagun, U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson declared the entire
concrete-lined Los Angeles River channel "traditional navigable
waters," a designation crucial to applying Clean Water Act
protections throughout its 834-square mile urban watershed. (Click
HERE for article). Previously, Dean Wallraff, of the
Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Conservation Legal Committee, wrote an
article in the August 2009 Southern Sierran entitled
California Clean
Water Law: Restoring Protections for Wetlands and Impermanent Streams.
The article also featured a map of
Permanent and Impermanent Streams near Los Angeles.
The EPA Region 9 Office has prepared a two-page summary on the evaluation of jurisdiction and navigability on the Santa Cruz River, AZ and the Los Angeles River. The summary provides some background and outlines specific information categories for public comment.
Report on Non-Native Plants Along
the Orange Line Busway in the Sepulveda Basin (3/22/2010)
click here to view .pdf file
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Master Plans and
Environmental Assessments LACDA, Santa Ana River and Arizona Basins
Preliminary Draft Resource and Ecosystem Objectives (2/19/2010) 1.5mb .pdf
file
Water
board moves to enforce ban on trash in L.A. River
Cities along the
watershed are required by 2016 to keep all trash out of their storm
drains.
Those that don't comply will now be in violation of the federal
Clean Water Act.
By Bettina Boxall - December 11, 2009 - Los Angeles Times
Regional water quality officials on Thursday put some teeth into
their long campaign to cleanse the Los Angeles River system of the
tons of trash that turn it into a movable landfill after major
storms. Standards previously adopted by the Los Angeles Water
Quality Control Board give cities along the watershed until 2016 to
keep all trash out of their storm drains. On Thursday, the board
incorporated those limits into storm water permits, putting
municipalities that don't meet the requirements in violation of the
federal Clean Water Act. Until now there had been no penalty for
noncompliance.
"It's taken two decades to get to this point," board vice-chair
Madelyn Glickfeld said after the 5-0 vote. "If we hadn't done this
today, it would have been a signal" to cities "to relax, guys."
During storms, tons of trash and plastic debris wash up in municipal
drains that empty into the Los Angeles River and its tributaries.
The trash floating at the river's mouth in Long Beach can be so
thick that it is hard to see any water. In the unusually wet winter
of 2005, Long Beach hauled more than 12,000 tons of garbage out of
the river. Much of the trash winds up in the Pacific Ocean,
contributing to huge floating garbage patches. Pieces of plastic can
wrap around wildlife and kill birds and fish.
Trash was formally identified as a pollution problem in the river in
1996. Five years later, the regional water board adopted standards.
But 22 cities sued to overturn the trash limits, saying they would
be expensive and difficult to meet. The courts found the board had
not performed an adequate environmental impact analysis of the new
rules, but otherwise upheld them. After conducting an environmental
review, the board readopted the trash standards in 2007. In the
meantime, some cities in the watershed, including Los Angeles,
started installing screens and collection systems to keep street
debris from washing into sewers. Sixteen cities in the watershed
recently received $10 million in federal stimulus money to outfit
their catch basins. Local officials pointed to progress Thursday.
"We have taken trash reduction seriously," said Signal Hill
Councilman Larry Forester. Another official showed the board
photographs he took after Monday's storm. Parts of the river that
have been coated with trash in the past were largely clean.
Local representatives argued that it wasn't necessary to write a
target of zero trash discharges into the storm permits, and that
doing so would set a burdensome precedent for other pollutants.
bettina.boxall@latimes.com
Senior Park
Maintenance Supervisor's Letter Regarding Organized Sports (Jan. 25,
2010)
Three maps from the County of Los Angeles Department of
Public Works identifying the eleven (11) facilities they maintain within the
Sepulveda Basin.
click
here to view 662kb .pdf file
The
Effects of Dogs on Wildlife, by Tom Chester (April 28, 2005)
Click
here to download a 12mb .pdf report entitled "Problems in Paradise - Weed
Invasion in the Bull Creek Restoration Project." (June 2009) Daily News Article about Bull Creek Ecosystem Restoration
Project (April 12, 2009)
click
here to view 307kb .pdf file Minutes of Friends of Lake
Balboa Meeting (May 28, 2009)
click here to view .pdf file
Photographer Documents Threats to Wildlife
Please click the links below to view
images of illegal fishing, swimming, dogs off leash (in the lake
too), killing of birds, etc.
The Best Fishing Hole in the Valley,
Illegal Fishing and Off-Leash Dogs,
Coot Killed with Beer Bottle,
Rape of the Wildlife Reserve |
