City Council Celebrates Los Angeles River Day

LOS ANGELES — Hundreds of advocates for our urban waterway joined the City Council on Wednesday to celebrate the inaugural Los Angeles River Day, Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell announced today.

The event was part of a special presentation to raise awareness about progress and improvement projects on the LA River, and educate the public on resources available along the 51 miles that run from the Valley to the Port of Long Beach. The event was led by O’Farrell who chairs the City’s Arts, Parks, Health, Aging, and Los Angeles River committee.

“This is the inaugural event to celebrate the amazing resource that is the Los Angeles River,” said O’Farrell. “We stand here today to celebrate and honor those who have put the river on an irreversible course for success. After swimming upstream all these years, the River is beginning to carry us into the future.”

The event, which was attended by Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard and Congressman Xavier Becerra, also served to honor former City Councilmember Ed P.Reyes. In his remarks, O’Farrell referred to Reyes as ‘‘the son of the Los Angeles River’ because of his decade-plus work as the former chair of the City’s ad hoc committee on the LA River.

“This is an emotional moment for me,” said Reyes. “This honor is not about me. This is about all the workers, all the staff who labored so intensely to get to this point.” (Full story at CD 13)