Bill Neill (Riparian Repairs)
Principal Investigator - Removal
Ph: (323)-724-4114

OVERVIEW
The Los Angeles River and tributary streams are mostly concrete-lined from the ocean to the
foothills surrounding San Fernando Valley and western San Gabriel Valley. Flood waters
draining from the foothill canyons encounter breaks in the concrete channels at two mid-basin
flood control basins--Sepulveda Dam Basin on the Los Angeles River and Whittier Narrows
Dam Basin on the Rio Hondo--and at Glendale Narrows, a 6-mile soft-bottom section with
concrete levees that ends above the Arroyo Seco confluence.

Due to this extensive channelization, remnants of natural riparian vegetation in the Los
Angeles River watershed are limited to Glendale Narrows, the two mid-valley flood control
basins, and--on the watershed perimeter--the foothill canyons, Tujunga Wash, Hansen Dam
Basin and the outlet in Long Beach. With natural riparian habitat in the watershed so reduced
by urbanization, infestations of non-native plants are a concern because they degrade the
ecological vitality of remnant riparian areas that otherwise are protected.


CDFA GRANTS
In September 2005, the Los Angeles County Weed Management Area and the Watershed
Council received grants for extensive weed mapping and education in Southern California as
part of a statewide effort to quantify the extensiveness of the weed problem. These efforts hope
to draw attention to the issues at hand and bring more federal dollars into our region. The first
grant concentrates on mapping multiple species (TBD) within the Los Angeles region. Another
will focus on an Arundo donax data gathering effort for the Southern California Wetlands
Recovery Project territory (Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura
counties). A series of educational materials (a weed card, a top 10 most wanted poster, and a
firewise brochure (in partnership with UCCE)) will be developed for the third grant. The project
timeline is for two years. Stay tuned for further information as the project progresses at our
new WeedWatch site!

If you have done any mapping in the past (whether it be GIS, GPS, or even napkin drawings) or
have any knowledge of infestations that may help build our database, please contact us so we
can meet with you and incorporate this information into the database. This data will be available
for free downloading at the completion of the grant.