The NELA River Collaborative project builds upon the growing momentum of efforts already underway to transform the Los Angeles River into a "riverfront district" and to create a focal point of community revitalization. For more information on the collaborative visit www.mylariver.org

The dreams of creating a 100-acre green open space that truly connects to the Los Angeles River seem to be dying of a long, lingering disease. Last month, the Proposition O Citizens Oversight Advisory Committee (COAC) and Administrative Oversight Committee (AOC) approved zeroing out the funds set aside for the purchase of Taylor Yard's 44-acre G2 parcel. The committee agreed to move $11.455 million of the budget to another phase of the Albion Dairy Project, and the remaining $985,000 to Prop O Contingency funds.

This marks the second time Taylor Yard funds were used towards Albion Dairy. In 2009, $12.56 million of Prop O funds were similarly transferred to complete the acquisition of a 6.34-acre Albion Dairy property, bringing the total purchase price to $17.56 million, 12 percent over the property's appraised value of $15.9 million. What was once a formidable $25 million budget set aside to purchase and build what is repeatedly called the "crown jewel" of the Los Angeles River is now a line item that simply reads TBD.

Plans are underway to upgrade Johnny Carson Park, the 17.6-acre green space between Bob Hope Drive off the 134, just a little north of Los Angeles River. All Burbank needs is just a little more funding to proceed with the renovation.

Named after the famed "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson, the green space has been part of the Burbank urban fabric since June 1943. The park, originally named Buena Vista Park, was once part of a 51-acre purchase from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Portions of the large tract were later sold to St. Joseph Hospital and NBC in the '40s and '50s.

What remained became one of Burbank's largest and most utilized neighborhood parks that stretches 17.6 acres, 8.76 of which are city-owned. The park was later renamed in honor of the late night show host in April 1992, to coincide with Carson's retirement. Decades of use naturally led to wear and tear, which prompted the city to explore renovation that would improve energy and water efficiency in the park.

As real estate markets start to recover, so do developer ambitions. Since 2008, Save L.A. Open Space has been working to save the last remaining unprotected open space along the 22-mile stretch of the Los Angeles River within the San Fernando Valley -- but profit motives may hamper environmental efforts.

The organization is hoping to transform Weddington Golf and Tennis, a privately-owned green space in Studio City, into a 16-acre Los Angeles River Natural Park. Before that happens however, the organization first has to build public support, gain funding, and fend off other competing offers for the property.

Weddington Golf and Tennis sits on one of the lowest points in the San Fernando Valley, says Alan Dymond, President of Save L.A. Open Space. By preserving the land's green space and adding water quality infrastructure, the city would divert at least 200 acres of surrounding urban runoff, that toxic mix of sludge that makes it way toward the Los Angeles River and eventually out into our oceans.

Since the channelization of the Los Angeles River after the tragic flood of 1938, the concrete encased waterway has become the backdrop to a collective imaginary. The L.A. River has played itself in hundreds of productions, making itself known to the world through the reach of Hollywood's mighty tentacles even though many Angeleno's have never actually dipped their toes in its waters. As some of you might have heard, river activity is on the rise -- from lion(!) and coyote sightings, to a recreation zone planned for the summer of 2013.

In this review we go over a list of L.A. River sightings and events, and ask you to be the judge, critically assessing whether this river happening is fact or fiction.

The NELA River Collaborative project builds upon the growing momentum of efforts already underway to transform the Los Angeles River into a "riverfront district" and to create a focal point of community revitalization. For more information on the collaborative visit www.mylariver.org

It may not look like much now, but the Arroyo Seco Confluence -- where the Los Angeles River and the Arroyo Seco meet -- could potentially be a crown jewel in the restoration of the Los Angeles River, if transformed to a fully realized Confluence Park.

Part of the Juan Baustista de Anza National Historic Trail, the area marks the Anza expedition of 1776 that led to the founding of a pueblo that would soon grow into Los Angeles. As Jenny Price points out in a 2010 L.A. Forum journal, not only does the site have historical value, but it is a "nexus" where Angelenos would inevitably meet.

"It's the meeting point for bikeways planned to Pasadena, to the Valley, and to downtown and into South L.A. The Gold Line ... will stop right here. The park connects up to the Taylor Yard and down to the Cornfield parks, which themselves connect to Elysian and Griffith Parks and to El Pueblo -- and would be an essential stop in the envisioned historic district in the central part of the city," wrote Price.

The NELA River Collaborative project builds upon the growing momentum of efforts already underway to transform the Los Angeles River into a "riverfront district" and to create a focal point of community revitalization. For more information on the collaborative visit www.mylariver.org

It only takes one look at the L.A. River-Arroyo Seco Confluence in Cypress Park to see why, despite increased support for revitalization around Los Angeles River, headway here has been moribund.

True to its name, at the Confluence, everything meets. As the river meanders its way downstream, the Metro Gold Line and Metrolink railways snake through its path, the 110 and the 5 dash across them. Industrial buildings line the riverside, making it more difficult for pedestrians to access the river. Layer after layer of infrastructure settles on top of the other, making matters more complicated for future redevelopments for the area.

"It's in a sad state now, candidly," said Timothy Brick, managing director of the Arroyo Seco Foundation. "But this proposal gives you an idea of how it can really be a gem for the whole Los Angeles river system."

The proposal in question comes from Yingjun Hu, a student at the University of Southern California's School of Architecture. For his thesis, Hu trained his eyes on this infrastructurally tangled space and proposed an urban riverfront landscape that would provide continuous green space, while still balancing the complex systems that exist in the area. Hu's study transforms a single-function flood control channel into a multi-functional corridor that would provide much-needed green space and habitat, while still fulfilling its role as a flood control channel. Hu employed a three-pronged approach to his proposal.

The NELA River Collaborative project builds upon the growing momentum of efforts already underway to transform the Los Angeles River into a "riverfront district" and to create a focal point of community revitalization. For more information on the collaborative visit www.mylariver.org

In the past month, Atwater Villagers have raised concerns about coyotes spotted on the islands on the Los Angeles River between Los Feliz and Glendale Boulevards. As many as six coyotes were spotted romping around the island.

Though some residents may be concerned, Kathleen Bartholomew, 59, grew up in Atwater Village and isn't worried. "They've always been there," she said. "I remember seeing them as a young girl, though it does seem like their numbers have been increasing gradually over the past few decades."

Neighbors see the encroaching coyote population as a consequence of the growing movement to naturalize the Los Angeles River. In the last 20 years, the city of Los Angeles has stopped cutting down trees that have sprouted on the island. The resulting brush has attracted birds, but also predators such as coyotes looking for their next meal.

Instead of worrying about the coyotes, Bartholomew instead focuses on the positive side, that the Los Angeles River is increasingly home to wildlife. "Naturalizing the Los Angeles River is a great idea. It's incredibly good for the animals. You wouldn't believe the number of birds nesting there now," she said .

Though the increasingly natural character of the river may be a factor, the crafty coyote has increasingly been found in various environments around the nation, from "the tundra of Alaska, the tropical forests of Panama and the urban jungle of New York City," according to a Smithsonian Magazine article. It is a species that has proven surprisingly flexible.

Every little bit counts, especially when it comes to open space. If all goes according to plan, this June, Angelenos will be welcoming another greenway right by the Los Angeles River.

Dubbed the "Los Angeles-Glendale Water Reclamation Plant Open Space Greenway," the 0.4-acre curved park lies on the east bank of the Los Angeles River just off the Colorado exit below the 5 freeway.

Inspired by the positive feedback from the North Atwater Park Expansion and Creek
Restoration project, Councilman Tom LaBonge filed a motion requesting the Bureau of Engineering (BoE), the Department of Recreation and Parks, and the Bureau of Sanitation (BoS) to assess if any land south of North Atwater Park by the Los Angeles Glendale Water Reclamation Plant could be spared to create open space. Their search revealed "a bunch of grass next door," said to Gene Greene, landscape architect with the BoS and the director of the Japanese Garden at Tillman Water Reclamation Plant.

In Australia, a walkabout is a sacred rite of passage one undergoes to find oneself by being immersed in nature. In Southern California, the Hahamongna Walkabout, hosted by the Arroyo Seco Foundation (ASF), seeks to inspire by guided tours through this rare spot near the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena where mountain terrain transforms into an urban plain.

The Hahamongna Watershed Park hosts a range of plant habitat and is a refuge for many species of wildlife and birds. Only last summer, a pair of Least Bell's Vireos, an endangered subspecies of Bell's Vireo songbird were spotted in the 300-acre open area.

Quantifiable data is a necessary first step in establishing a baseline for future improvement in any undertaking. But when it came to the health of watersheds, there wasn't much of that available until the 1990s, when the environmental non-profit Heal the Bay and their team of more than 500 volunteers began to gather high quality data that would shed light on how exactly humans are affecting their surroundings.

The team focused their efforts on the Malibu Creek watershed, the second largest watershed draining to Santa Monica Bay. Despite its size, over 75 percent of the 110-square mile watershed is still undeveloped. Within the watershed, pristine habitats, urbanized areas, and everything in between could be found. It was an ideal real-world laboratory.

Heal the Bay has now published a comprehensive report detailing findings culled from 12 years of data gathered by their Stream Team volunteers.