A Slice of L.A. River History: The Tujunga Wash

We met ecologist, Ellen Mackey outside the Sizzler off of Sunland Ave from the 210 Freeway and followed her up Foothill Boulevard towards the mountains. After just a few miles, we pulled over to the side of the road and walked up to a waist high cement barrier. Boulders and sand were mixed in with a collage of plants casting beautiful shades of greens and yellows against the base of the San Gabriel Mountains.

This is the Tujunga Wash, one of many tributaries to the river, but on its own provides a fifth of the water that flows into the Los Angeles River. During storms, rains pour down from the mountainsides into the wash, pushing boulders and debris, tearing up plants and earth, and generating riparian zones for fish. However, during the summer, it is hard to imagine water flowing through as it is as dry as desert.

View Tujunga Wash in a larger map

Mackey compared the wash to what the river was once like as she introduced us to the native plants that once existed: Cottonwood and Willow trees, California Sage, Buckwheat, Yucca and Scalebroom. At one point, she told us to hold still and listen, as we heard the wind pass through the leaves of the Cottonwood. She ran her hand through the California Sage and had us take a smell. 'This is what the official scent of California should be,' she said, and added 'too bad, smell-o-vision doesn't exist.'

According to Mackey, this ecosystem known as Alluvial Fan Sage Scrub (the Scalebroom is an indicator of this) was common to flood plains like the Tujunga Wash and the Los Angeles River, but is now rare to California. Urban development has pushed into flood plains requiring diversion through channelization and deflection through cement barriers. As a result, water flows off of impermeable surfaces such as streets and into the flood control channels generating high velocity water flow making it nearly impossible for plant and animal life to exist.

Still there is a glimmer of hope. As plans to revitalize the Los Angeles River are developed, many propose reintroducing the native plant species back into the their original environmental. Although such plans are years away, one can simply take a short trip up into the foothills of Sunland and see what the river once was, and what the river could one day be.