Well done, City Councilman Ed Reyes. It appears as though your recent chitchat with President Barack Obama paid off. The L.A. River has been named one of 100 projects identified in The 50-State Report. Released today, the federal report serves as part of Obama's America's Great Outdoors (AGO) initiative to establish a conservation and recreation agenda for the 21st century - a promise to future generations. more ›

City Councilman Ed Reyes and other members of the National League of Cities' Advisory Council are slated to meet with President Barack Obama today in Washington, D.C. to talk L.A. River. Reyes and company are on a mission to gain Obama's support in projects related to the river that will create jobs plus improve community health and the environment. more ›

One of seven cities selected, Los Angeles will be participating in the Urban Waters Federal Partnership Program with a focus on the LA River Watershed. The project, "intended to reconnect urban communities with their waterways," will run in alignment with President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative "which calls on agencies to support innovative community efforts to provide safe, healthy and accessible outdoor spaces," according to Friends of the LA River (FOLAR). more ›

This summer a portion of the L.A. River will be officially opened up for guided kayak tours for the first time. While kayaking tours have occurred in the past without legal permit, the current program, proposed by a coalition of groups is currently under an environmental review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. more ›

A woman is being treated for "non-life threatening injuries" and a pet bird is home safe after 14 firefighters rescued the pair from the L.A. River in Studio City on Saturday. The bird, described by the LA Times as "similar to a large parrot," reportedly escaped, and with clipped wings, fluttered and fell into the river where it was washed downstream. more ›

On Saturday, hundreds of volunteers took part in an annual community effort to make the Los Angeles River and its adjacent green spaces cleaner and safer for residents and visitors. Now KCET has released their amazing and comprehensive Field Guide to the LA River, which includes over 90 maps (and growing) of things to do and see along the 52-mile waterway. more ›

Confluence Plaza officially opened Thursday with a full dedication complete with a brass band. The plaza, located at the corner of N. San Fernando Road and N. Figueroa Street, near Home Depot in Cypress Park, is part of a larger plan to beautify the stretch of the Los Angeles River that parallels the 5 Freeway and an industrial corridor. more ›

Rock of Ages—the big hair-band musical comedy about a small town girl (who’s living in a lonely world) meeting a big city rocker In 1987 on the Sunset Strip—opens tonight at the Pantages. The story’s told through the songs of Journey, Bon Jovi, Poison and many more. In the cast of the LA premiere is American Idol finalist Constantine Maroulis who earned a Tony nomination for his role. 8 pm. Tickets: $25-90. Through Feb. 27. more ›

Mudslides, flooded roads, washed out beachfronts, evacuations, water-logged hills, and swift waters in flood channels has Los Angeles and Orange County, as well as surrounding counties, on alert. more ›

Authorities in Los Angeles, Burbank, and Glendale are standing by in case they need to perform a swift water rescue from the LA River. The Los Angeles Fire Department reported at around 7:30 this morning someone may have been swept away in the runoff channel at White Oak Avenue and Coldwater Canyon Avenue. more ›

City officials opened a 2.5 mile extension of the L.A. river on Saturday and KCET developed a map of river-path goodness to celebrate the occasion. The map represents a first step in what KCET calls a "living map that will be continually updated and added to." Leave a comment for them if you've got map suggestions for future iterations. more ›

This morning, LAFD personnel were called to the Los Angeles River at Balboa Boulevard in response to a call regarding a person needing rescue from the waterway. However, the "firefighters sent on a swift-water rescue in the San Fernando Valley this morning found only a mannequin," reports the Daily News. Oops! It is not clear if the non-human was actually removed from the water. more ›

Authorities rescued a man on Sunday, "from the rain-swollen Los Angeles River after drifting about four miles downstream," reports CBS Local. LA Fire Department says the man was spotted before 8 a.m. east of downtown and drifted past police during a failed rescue attempt at Sixth Street and Olympic Boulevard. A police helicopter was able later able to grab him in the water near Vernon, "where the river widens and the currents get slower." The man, whose name has not been released, was conscious and speaking to rescuers before being transferred to County USC Hospital, where he was reported in stable condition. more ›

River activist George Wolfe and his L.A. River Expeditions team have won the American Canoe Association's Green Paddle award for their "outstanding contribution to paddlesport by protecting America's waterways." more ›

A sewage spill in Burbank has affected the beaches down in Long Beach, according to Everything Long Beach. more ›

Fueled by a grant from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department, the ambitious River Corridor Project is moving forward, according to the Daily News. The plan is to turn the area surrounding the LA River into a usable public space that rivals the famous San Antonio River Walk more ›

About 240 LADWP customers are without power this extremely hot afternoon after a transformer apparently overheated and caught fire. At 3:36 p.m., the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to Fulton Avenue and Valleyheart Drive (map) at the border of Sherman Oaks and Studio City, and just south of the Los Angeles River, to find a power pole aflame, sending a plume of black smoke into the sky. One witness said he could see it as he drove down Coldwater Canyon from Mulholland Drive. more ›

"Why would I not fish the LA River?" asks one of the subjects of this short documentary. "You gonna eat a fish that's been eating shit, oil, garbage, pet droppings?" asks a commenter regarding a man who went fishing--with his bare hands--in the River during a rainstorm in January. more ›

Now that the L.A. River is deemed navigable, meaning it is subject to the 1972 Clean Water Act, by the federal government, it should in theory be accessible by the public. But that's not exactly the case right now. Cautious government agencies are trying to figure it out and one Los Angeles city councilmember, Ed Reyes, is pushing for answers. And now the public is also speaking up. more ›

Now with the L.A. River defined as a navigable, there's a movement afloat to make it usable for residents. Today L.A. City Councilmember Ed Reyes, who leads the city's river committee on the river and spearheaded the river revitalization master plan, introduced a motion to establish a boating program. more ›

As seen here yesterday, the first kayaking trip on the L.A. River since it was deemed "navigable" by the federal government was caught on video. Exciting as that is, the legality of holding such an urban adventure is still in a gray area. more ›

It's been done before, but not since the federal government officially declared the L.A. River as navigable, thus under the Clean Water Act. So last week river activists George Wolfe, Joe Linton and others took to a eight-mile portion of the river down the Glendale Narrows between Griffith Park and towards downtown for an inaugural trip. more ›

Sometimes a little civil disobedience goes a long way. When it was announced by the Environmental Protection Agency last week that the Los Angeles River was considered "traditional navigable waters," it meant that it and the streams and channels that flow into it are protected under the Clean Water Act. more ›