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Remember last year when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed taking away “traditional navigable waters" status for the Los Angeles river? That stirred some major controversy including a three-day kayak trip from the Valley to the ocean by a group of activists set out to prove the river's navigability. Heather Wiley, who works for the Army Corp and disagrees with their decision, was caught up in the mess.
Now her story is part of a short documentary called Heather and Goliath that will play this weekend at the HollyShorts film festival (it's also embedded above, but we recommend checking out the festival anyway because short films rule). The filmmakers behind the short are now at work on a feature-length documentary, Rock the Boat, about the river and clean water politics in the country.
LAist photographer Tom Andrews tagged along for all three days so you can see the rapids, the basin, the narrows, the graffiti and the ocean. Check out the photos here, here and here.
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I like this video and what she is trying to accomplish but it should be noted that if CA simply had more stringent environmental laws this wouldn't even need to be an issue. The only reason they worry about the river's classification (AFAIK) is so that it can be protected under federal environmental rules, which require that it be a traditional navigable water. But there isn't anything preventing the state of CA from simply creating the same protections that the federal laws have but without the requirement that is be a tradition navigable water (that restriction only exists because the the US Constitution restricts the Federal govt from otherwise protecting state waters).
As someone who lived for many years on the East Coast, when I first saw the LA River, I thought it was a joke. It looked like no river I had ever seen. Now, having lived here for a couple of years, biked a few of the river trails, photographed them, and written about them, I've fallen in love with the LA River.
It's totally unique, full of life and spirit, and even though people may not realize it, a major part of LA.
The video is great, and I look forward to featuring it in my next article about the LA River.