Arroyo Seco study gets funding boost

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — Efforts to get an environmental study of the Arroyo Seco off the ground received a $200,000 boost from the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water on Friday, but the study still needs more than $1 million in federal funding if it is to be completed within three years, officials said.

Rep. Adam Schiff — who represents Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena — originally submitted a request for $600,000 in funding from the sub-committee but is still optimistic about the long-term prospects of the proposed study.

“Returning the Arroyo Seco Watershed to its natural beauty has always been a priority of mine,” Schiff said. “Conducting the Arroyo Seco Watershed Study is the first step toward restoring this land to its original form. Once restored, the Arroyo will provide an even greater open space and recreation area for all those in our community to enjoy. This restoration has tremendous local support, and I am pleased that the federal government can partner with us to improve this valuable resource.”

The launch of the $2.7 million Arroyo Seco Watershed Feasibility Study, a partnership between the US Army Corps of Engineers and the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, hit a setback when federal funding for it was reduced from $300,000 to $100,000 last year, said Tim Brick, managing director of the Arroyo Seco Foundation.

He welcomed the federal government’s latest contribution to the study, but added that at this rate, the study will take many more years to complete.

“I am really pleased with the result,” Brick said.

“It’s been a tough year to get funding for studies like this. I believe 85 other studies in California were proposed and very few got any funding at all, so to get anything is a good step. However, we really need more. The study is limping along and, at this rate, it could take 14 years to finish.”

The watershed includes the streams and tributaries that flow from the San Gabriel Mountains through La Cañada Flintridge, Altadena, Pasadena, South Pasadena and north east Los Angeles before meeting the Los Angeles River, Brick said.

About 70% of La Cañada Flintridge falls within the Arroyo Seco area, he said, and preliminary work has already shown that the Flint Canyon Wash is one of the local areas likely to be earmarked by the study for trail repair, restoration and beautification work.

“We’ve been waiting for some time to get work on that area underway,” La Cañada Flintridge Mayor Greg Brown said. “That particular part of the wash has been an area of concern for several years and last year’s storm only added to the erosion. We are doing what we can to shore up the trails, but clearly, something needs to be done on a much broader scope.”

The county and the cities of La Cañada Flintridge, Pasadena, South Pasadena and Los Angeles have all committed their share of the study’s costs, Brick said, but the study cannot be completed on time without the federal funding for the remaining half.

Rep. David Dreier, who represents La Cañada Flintridge and La Crescenta, has thrown his support behind the study, his spokeswoman Jo Maney said.