The USACE Los Angeles District’s Commander Col. Kirk Gibbs joined Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis on January 8 to announce that the Corps will begin interim risk reduction measures to improve flood protection on the Los Angeles River during El Niño.
The District received emergency funding to begin work next week on an area of the river that spans from Griffith Park to Elysian Valley. They also determined that this area needed increased capacity to keep the river in its banks.
Gibbs declared an emergency for the District on January 6, prompting the Corps to provide $3.1 million in emergency funding and nearly 3 miles of temporary protective barriers.
Additionally, the District received approximately $500,000 in operations and maintenance funding to begin strategic in-channel vegetation removal from the highest-risk area, in the vicinity of and Victory Boulevard Bridge.
“The flood fighting has just begun for this winter ,” said Gibbs . “In addition to the work we are currently undertaking, the protective barriers will reduce flood risk with minimal impacts to the public and our river partners. Residents will start seeing an increase in activity in and around the channels beginning this week .”
The work is anticipated to take several weeks, according to the USACE.
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