Los Angeles River. Part 4

it isn't any great beauty of the los angeles river is a workhorse it projects cities from flooding and jerry's are treated sewage and storm water out to the ocean even water we've conscripted from other rivers the colorado and the allens winds up in the trenches of the la river but not necessarily because of the assumptions which are given the highest chair of the los angeles regional water authority because it's empty out into the every river without any treatment whatsoever what is left on honesty this goes into the storm drains into our waterways out to the ocean and it's a very stark declaration that oftentimes human fecal material oil week's fertilizer and of course that ubiquitous that are perched on a levee in long beach high players that the food wrappers water bottles soda cans and other track littering the levee he points out along at la county has installed to capture trash every year the county host two hundred

tons of trash out of the la river to clean up the river the water board is adding regulations on dozens of contaminants it's hammer a previously a new section of the federal clean water act scintillating we called total maximum daily loads forty and yells simply put the regulations tally the total amount of pollution the water body can handle and still being used that officially they've enforced to looters and municipalities to achieve that standard able to stay in contact with the plane and there's a great deal of evidence that many people do actually be caught on the river he says members of the homeless population center the la water board is the first in the nation to begin enforcing tnt else but there's

debate over the target shooter river that's primarily a storm drain be held to federal standards for fishing and swimming david hi says yes but some don't see the point where a forester is vice mayor of signal hill which has sued over the trash regulations we prohibit entry into the river right now i don't think that should change i don't think the lord reaches of the la river would ever be aquatic sports now do i think some of these side areas could be used to develop parks as long as we keep people out of the water it's much of the burden for cleaning the river falls on the la county flood control district is installed catch basins and storm drains and is taking other steps to meet the water board's mandate to cut trash in the river to zero over the next decade marked a stroll of the district says complying with the tnt all regulations will be outrageously expensive just for trash alone for medals we don't even have a clue as to because of some

resources and those that since the bubbles beyond imagination the cost but she says the status at a level of compliance it probably is completely unrealistic mr alice as for the medals regulation the water board once the la river to meet state drinking water standards among other things local officials will have to figure out how to keep years of accumulated lead zinc and other metals from washing off roadside stand into the water but environmentalists say when you look at the bigger picture it's worth the cost melanie winter of the river project we spend a billion dollars a year it important half a billion dollars a year to support the flood control system it's crazy winter slips her toes into the river at the pole that a recreation area in the san fernando valley the water is clear here winter says because there's no concrete on the bottom so the plants in the soil can filter pollutants she says we need to save more of the river and patches of the city replacing concrete with permeable surfaces like earth and vegetation that will allow more rain water to filter into our groundwater supply instead

of washing onto streets where it's a solution winter leans back on to the soft sandy bank of the river soaking in the warm sun and the water just as the right to come down and the sandy banks are indicators in some little body of water even if it's not quite as pristine as you wanted to be in the los angeles river also set feel at nine point three kpcc