2015 LARWMP Annual Report Release
It’s here! The Los Angeles River Watershed Monitoring Program (LARWMP) 2015 Annual Report has arrived! Since the LARWMP is a regional monitoring program that covers the entire LA River watershed, it provides insights into the health of the area’s rivers and streams that no other single monitoring program can provide.
We have spent yet another monitoring season hiking the trails of the watershed, grabbing water samples as Angelenos wade near the waterfall at Sturtevant Falls and kayak in the Glendale Narrows: L.A.’s urban oasis. We get to experience and learn more about the river and the watershed every day through our monitoring work. Our data tells a story, emphasizing the difference between the upper, more natural segments and the lower, more urban segments of the watershed. It shows us how wild some segments of the watershed really are, helps us understand whether fish in our local lakes are safe to eat, and highlights the issues that our urban watershed faces. We hope you enjoy learning about our watershed and join us in exploring and caring for the natural wonders in our own backyard.
If you’re curious about whether certain swimming holes in the watershed pose public health risks, or whether fish caught in our watershed’s lakes are safe to eat, you can find out by reading Chapters Four and Five of our report. For a summary of the report with infographics and tips for safe recreation, click here!
More about LARWMP
The report addresses five questions of concern to resource managers and the public alike:
What is the condition of streams in the watershed?
Are conditions at areas of unique interest getting better or worse?
Are receiving waters near discharges meeting water quality objectives?
Is it safe to swim?
Are locally caught fish safe to eat?
The LARWMP has collected data on the health of the watershed since 2008 and releases annual reports as well as a State of the Watershed report, released every five years to track long-term trends in the watershed. It is funded and conducted by a number of public agencies and private nonprofit entities working in the watershed, including: City of Burbank, City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, Los Angeles County Flood Control District, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), U.S. Forest Service, and Aquatic Bioassay and Consulting Laboratories, Inc. The Council for Watershed Health leads the program and publishes the annual and State of the Watershed reports. To learn more about the LARWMP, visit www.watershedhealth.org/larwmp.
