Los Angeles Waterkeeper is among the environmental groups that are suing Los Angeles County alleging that its LA River Master Plan approval last month violates environmental laws.
LA Waterkeeper and co-plaintiff, Center for Biological Diversity, wants the Los Angeles Superior Court to stop the project until the county completes an environmental impact report.
“We at LA Waterkeeper believe the future of the LA River as a natural living river is at stake,” said Benjamin Harris, staff attorney with Los Angeles Waterkeeper. “We believe that is the ultimate goal as a county that we should be striving to achieve and, unfortunately, the master plan does not embody that goal and does not lay a foundation to achieve that goal.”
LA Waterkeeper is a water watchdog while the LA River Master Plan is a guide proposing improvements along the LA River over the next 25 years, according to a press release, but if the court does not stay the master plan, sections of the river will be encased in concrete platforms and can never again be reverted back into a natural river.
“We will be facing high risks of displacement and community destabilization in a lot of already vulnerable communities and potentially exacerbated pollution burdens in some communities along the LA river nearby some of these harmful projects,” Harris told the Southern California Record.
Although the county was given unanimous approval for the plan by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on June 14, the complaint alleges it was without disclosing how disadvantaged communities along the river will be impacted.
“There are specific planned projects that are described in great detail under the master plan for which the county says we don't need to analyze those impacts now and improperly defers all analysis to a later date which is simply improper under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA),” Harris said.
The LA River is nearly 48 miles and flows through Canoga Park as well as Burbank, Glendale, the San Fernando Valley, downtown Los Angeles, and Compton.
“We are bringing this action with the intent to have the county commit to rescinding its approval of the environmental impact report and to reopen a public dialogue about the master plan's approach, the findings that are the master plan, and consider all alternatives that the community has been pushing for during the development process and then identify clear prioritization for future projects," Harris said. "That really gets us to a point where we can implement all of the goals that the county may be trying to accomplish under the master plan."
Before filing a lawsuit, LA Waterkeeper had participated in a steering committee along with representatives from nonprofits, and multiple municipalities in order to advise the county on the development of the Master Plan.
"The most surprising thing to me is just the seeming lack of transparency about the development of the master plan," Harris added. "The county has identified some laudable goals in some ways, but then really failed to listen to the community about how to implement those goals and achieve those goals. That to me sticks out."