Corps reaffirms protection of Los Angeles River
By Daniel J. Calderón

LOS ANGELES – “The Corps of Engineers will not waiver in its responsibilities for Clean Water Act protections on the Los Angeles River,” said Col. Thomas H. Magness IV, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District.  “We are fully committed to leverage all of our authorities to help fulfill our stewardship role.”

“The Los Angeles River has long been a ‘navigable water’ under the Clean Water Act,” Magness said.  “Section 404 of the act provides our mandate to safeguard navigable waters, which include traditional navigable waters, relatively permanent waters, ocean areas, wetlands and other waters of the United States.”

Consistent with the Clean Water Act and national guidance established jointly by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Corps, two sections of the river -- one within Sepulveda Basin and one at the river’s southern end near the Pacific Ocean are now designated as traditional navigable waters (TNWs).  This decision, formalized by an internal Corps decision document signed by Magness this week, is based on the physical characteristics of these reaches, their susceptibility to support future navigation and commercial use due to the configuration of the channel, and public accessibility. Magness also indicated the Corps will continue to evaluate other reaches of the river as possible TNWs.

The decision by the Corps was prompted by a rancher’s request to determine jurisdiction over small, ephemeral stream beds on his property in the hills near Calabasas.

In accordance with joint guidance from the EPA and the Department of the Army regarding the 2006 U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the consolidated case, Rapanos vs. United States and Carabell vs. United States, the Corps must make determinations of jurisdiction (Rapanos Guidance) under a number of different tests.  One of these tests is whether a normally dry streambed or wash is sufficiently connected to a “traditional navigable water.”  This term refers to “[a]ll waters which are currently used, or were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including all waters which are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide.”

“This decision does not in any way lessen the protections on the L.A. River itself,” Magness said.  “Because of its status as a relatively permanent water, the river itself is fully under the Corps’ jurisdiction.  This decision formalizes the determination of TNWs to support future decisions regarding Corps jurisdiction in tributaries and upstream washes that connect to the River.”
 
For more information, click here (43KB PDF).

To view the decision memo, click here (1.56MB PDF).