The L.A. River's shallow waters run beneath the Hyperion Bridge. The channel runs by Griffith Park before turning south through downtown. (Lauren Foliart/Neon Tommy)

For Lewis MacAdams, the Los Angeles River is a brick of clay, robust with potential and ready to be sculpted.  

“I have this grandiose imagination for what the river could be—that’s my job,” MacAdams said.  “Patience is key…  We can't do it all in one lifetime.”

He's spent twenty-seven years rubbing away rough edges and imperfections and remains hopeful that one day it will reflect his imaging.  But for now the L.A. River is an unfinished masterpiece — politics stand in its way.  

MacAdams founded Friends of the Los Angeles River (FoLAR) in 1986 hoping to not only make the L.A. River a better river, but also to restore one of the city’s most iconic landmarks to its natural habitat.  

The non-profit organization has become the leading voice in education and advocacy for the river.  Among other things, they host an annual river cleanup day every spring and provide tours for class field trips.  But their success can only be measure in the growing awareness the public has gained for their forgotten river. 

“The river hasn't changed much,” MacAdams said.  “But people's attitudes have changed.” 

One of the most neglected sections of the roughly 52-mile river cuts through Downtown L.A. behind Union Station.  Here it acts as an industrial space, serving the city not as a river, but as a train yard.

North of Union Station, on the eastern side of the river, lies a site nicknamed “Piggyback yard,” where transfers of large containers occur between railroad flat cars and distribution trucks.  

The Union Pacific Railroad, which owns Piggyback yard, does not use the portion of the river it owns to its full potential, according to FoLAR.  They’d rather use the space for its water storing potential, aiding in the river’s overall aesthetic restoration and serving as a flood plain.

“If done right, it will be the first time turning a flood control system into a developed recreational area,” MacAdams said.  

But MacAdams and his design team face one setback—Union Pacific has no intention of selling the land.  

One success story does bode well for the project’s team.  Back in 2001, Union Pacific relinquished their property known as “The Cornfields” near Dodger Stadium, which allowed for the development of the Los Angeles State Historic Park.

The Piggyback Yard Project devised by MacAdam’s team, while both comprehensive and dynamic, serves only as a mere proposal for what the space may never be.  

In October 2009, MacAdams met with representatives from local design firms to brainstorm possibilities for the project.  Meeting on the parking garage rooftop of downtown’s Twin Towers Correctional Facility—the only spot where the yards can be seen in full—the group began piecing together their image for remodeling the grounds.

The coalition includes landscape architect Mia Lehrer as well as three other architectural firms—Michael Maltzan Architecture, Perkins & Will and Chee Salette Architecture Office.  

Working free of charge, they conceived an idea for a public space that doubles as a flood control system.  Their vision aims to revert the area back to a prosperous ecosystem, providing a green open space for walking, biking and recreation. 

The 130-acre park would be among the largest in Los Angeles, but MacAdams said the plan’s primary purpose would focus on flood control.  

“The next step is to get on the property and test the toxicity,” MacAdams said.  “But the railroads are still a really powerful system so every time I've tried, I've been kicked off.”  

Slowing down the water flow and allowing for ecosystems to flourish, the project intends to reshape the river’s channel by replacing the concrete encasing with a soft bottom  

The site will also be suited for water detention, protecting those communities living downstream for floods, and possibly collecting water for infiltration.  

“We're trying to build a better river,” MacAdams said.  “We can't say that it will be restored to its natural state because natural doesn't mean the same thing it did 100 years ago.”

Once a free-flowing waterway, the L.A. River curved through the floodplains now known as Los Angeles County.  In 1938, a catastrophic flood devastated the area, threatening both the city’s existence and its roles as a weapons and aircraft manufacturer for what was already perceived by the Roosevelt Administration as a looming world war.  The wreckage prompted the Army Corps of Engineers to channel the 52-mile river with 3 million barrels of concrete.

Today, much of it looks more like giant storm drain than a river.  But prior to 1938 this natural resource acted as the city’s primary water supply.

In 1913, William Mulholland opened the Los Angeles Aqueduct, bringing water from the Owens River in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to L.A.  The city soon became dependent on this imported water source as it does today from other locations.

“[The L.A. River] is a resource to lower our water bills,” said local Sierra Club member William Goldstein at last year’s annual river cleanup day.  

“But there’s even a larger problem,” Goldstein said.  “L.A. is dependent on imported water from the Bay Delta and the Colorado River…  L.A. needs to be more independent in its water resources.

According to a report recently released by the University of Southern California, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power imports 52% of the city’s water, 36% comes from the L.A. aqueduct, 11% comes from groundwater and less than 1% is recycled.

The L.A. River Revitalization Master Plan (LARRMP) adopted by the Los Angeles City Council in 2007 details how the river might be better used as a source for water, intertwining sustainable water goals with the redevelopment of natural environments. 

But according to Mark Gold, associate professor at the UCLA Institute of Environment and Sustainability, achieving both objectives isn’t as easy as it sounds.  

“There’s a sort of tension between what we want the river to be at the end of this effort,” Gold said.  “The Master Plan mostly concerns the creation of wonderful park elements along the banks, rather than what is being done change the paradigm of water management in Los Angeles and in the River itself.”

Gold was a part of a team that published “Vision 2021 LA,” a report released at the end of last year that discusses some of the city’s most pressing environmental issues.

The report mentions modifying the LARRMP to better regulate water quality, as it would decrease our dependence on imported sources.  But according to Gold, the conflict between utilizing the river as a local water resource and a space for recreation still exists.

“L.A. is desperate for a more reliable water supply and the river flow from spring to fall is over 90% treatable wastewater,” Gold explained.  “So if the city did a better job recycling that water, which many people including myself are pushing for, what would that do to the level of flow needed to maintain something like kayaking?”

Despite the friction that may arise between projects that aim to transform the river into a place for recreation versus those that promote recycling its water, the increase in awareness of the potential value of the river is undeniable.

And the public’s appreciation for the river is unprecedented, according to both Gold and MacAdams.

“No one speaks badly about the L.A. River, there are just a lot of voices and a lack of coherence,” MacAdams said.

Gold recalled the first time he observed the excessive trash scattered across a portion of the river next to Compton Creek.  He reflected on the moment as being monumental in his environmental career.

His previous work with Heal the Bay had brought him face-to-face with the reality of waste and pollution.  But it was along this stretch of river that illuminated the severe need for behavioral changes in our culture.

“The scope and scale of trash along that creek is so mind-numbing it stuck with me forever,” Gold said.  “My son went there many years ago on a clean up and to this day I think it’s a huge reason why he’s a marine biology major at Stanford.”

Environmental education and teaching younger generations about the L.A. River remains a top priority for MacAdams and FoLAR. 

Most recently, the organization launched what it calls the “River Rover,” which takes rides along the river, teaching observers about the ecosystems that call it home.  

“The problem goes back to people's habits and behavior towards the environment,” MacAdams said.  “That's the point of the River Rover—to educate thousands of kids and change their minds about the river”

For now, MacAdams relishes in the strides he’s made as an advocate for the L.A. River.  

He understands it can take years to see a project like Piggyback Yard come to fruition, but that doesn’t slow him down.  The next step he sees in transforming the yard is electing a mayor that will get behind the issue.

“I'd be happy if the next mayor forced Union Pacific to start conversations about selling,” MacAdams said. 

It takes a person with political power to get the railroad's attention, he added.  And sometimes even that isn’t enough. 

MacAdams has tried a number of times to enter the property, even in the company of Councilmember Tom LaBonge, but has always been kicked out by railroad security.  He said the project’s next step will be to test the toxicity of the land, and that’s entirely dependent on access.

While the Piggyback Yard Project may never get a chance to redesign that specific stretch of the river, the blueprint acts as a viable model for what other areas along the channel could look like.  FoLAR has encountered obstacles for almost 30 years, this one being no different than the rest.    

“It's a contested space and nobody knows what will happen,” he said.  “Now we're in the position to do it, but not until the land is available… But at my age, if it’s not impossible, I’m not interested.”

Reach Reporter Lauren Foliart here.