Title supplied by cataloger. For many years the Los Angeles River was the subject of many jokes because of its dry riverbed. Originally an alluvial river that ran freely across a flood plain, the Los Angeles River's path was unstable and unpredictable with the mouth of the river moving frequently from one place to the other. The river was prone to bursting its banks with devastating affects, a problem that plagued the local area well into the 1930s. This situation ultimately lead to an outcry for flood control measures. The Army Corps of Engineers began an ambitious project of completely encasing the river's bed and banks in concrete leaving only a trickle of water flowing down its middle. Today, this intermittent river flows for most of its 51 miles through a narrow concrete channel. This photo was taken in the San Fernando Valley, where concrete of the Los Angeles River begins. It shows the middle of the river basin looking toward the mountains, with several homes visible on the left of the basin through the lush foliage. The river's official starting point is at the union of Bell Creek and Calabasas Wash in the southwestern San Fernando Valley.
Type
Image
Format
1 photographic print :color ;11 x 16 cm. Photographic prints
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