Pacoima Wash, long,
[U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data]
The National Map
accessed March 16, 2011 is a major
tributary
A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...
of the
Tujunga Wash, itself a tributary of the
Los Angeles River
The Los Angeles River (), historically known as by the Tongva and the by the Spanish, is a major river in Los Angeles County, California. Its headwaters are in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and it flows nearly from Canoga Park ...
, in the
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...
of
Los Angeles County,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
.
The stream begins at Mount Gleason, elevation: , in the western
San Gabriel Mountains
The San Gabriel Mountains () are a mountain range located in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert ...
of the
Angeles National Forest. The upper reaches, sometimes known as Pacoima Creek, flow through Pacoima Canyon as a rapid mountain stream. It then reaches the
Pacoima Dam Reservoir in the western
San Gabriel Mountains
The San Gabriel Mountains () are a mountain range located in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert ...
of the
Angeles National Forest and proceeds south in a free-flowing stream alongside Pacoima Trail Road. Below the dam, it is generally known as the Pacoima Wash. From there, it joins several other unnamed streams that drain the nearby mountains, collecting at Lopez Dam. South of that dam, Pacoima Wash is encased in a
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
flood control channel, and travels south from Kagel Canyon in
Sylmar though
San Fernando,
Pacoima,
Mission Hills,
Panorama City, and
Van Nuys
Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.
History
In 1 ...
.
History
In 1911, the developers of the Van Nuys townsite altered the Pacoima Wash from Sherman Way to the Los Angeles River, for by adding a street/flood channel.
Years of flooding downstream followed, and Van Nuys flooded in the great
Los Angeles Flood of 1938.
In the 1950s, many drastic efforts were made to protect residents along the Pacoima Wash.
Just after flowing below
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...
, the stream is diverted to the Pacoima Diversion Channel, joining Tujunga Wash further upstream. The Pacoima Wash Headworks were created where the Interstate 5 interchange is for settling of high flood volumes. The threat of flooding was diminished greatly. 41 years later, Congressman
Tony Cardenas won funding to turn the headworks, bare ground used only to settle flood volumes, into parkland. The earlier attempts to channelize the wash from the Pacoima Headworks south were left alone, and the channel was redirected closer to Van Nuys Blvd.
Because of the flash floods in the Pacoima Wash, flooding in Van Nuys was an issue every year. In the great 1938 Los Angeles rains and flood, many parts of Van Nuys flooded severely.
Through the 1960s, Van Nuys Elementary School kept a pontoon bridge for students to cross the flood channel when it flooded. Parts of the original streambed disappeared and can be traced behind the YMCA. The Knights of Columbus is shoehorned in a channel.
The flooding issues remained until the 1950s, when the Pacoima Diversion Channel took the stream east from Laurel Canyon and the I 5-CA 118 interchange to the Tujunga Wash. several miles of Pacoima Wash remained, drained by several miles of adjoining storm drains. And from Vanowen to the Los Angeles River, the historic Pacoima Wash disappears.
In 1991, the section between Lassen Street and Parthenia Street was one of the last sections of natural stream beds in the
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...
to be made a concrete channel.
In 2007, the wash was cleaned up after being cited as a fertile breeding ground for mosquitoes carrying the
West Nile virus.
Pacoima Wash has been the site of several rescues of people, mostly of children and teenagers trapped in the spring runoff. Incidents occurred in 1985, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, and 2006.
There have been efforts to create a greenway along the Wash connecting the communities of the Northeast San Fernando Valley. In 2004 the Pacoima Wash Greenway Master Plan was created by Department of Landscape Architecture at
Cal Poly Pomona which focuses on the portion of the Wash within the City of San Fernando.
In 2008, environmental non-profit Pacoima Beautiful started the Pacoima Wash initiative. The goal of this project is to create a linear greenway composed of bike lanes and a walking path along a stretch of the Wash between the
Pacoima Dam in
Sylmar and the Tujunga Wash in
Arleta. The Pacoima Wash Vision Plan, which covers the Sylmar and Pacoima portions of the Wash was produced in 2011. An addendum to the plan focusing on the Arleta portion of the Wash is currently being produced.
Several new parks along the Wash are in various stages of completion. 8th Street Park is a park in the City of San Fernando which will be completed in spring of 2014. The city of Los Angeles is creating preliminary designs for a park along the wash between El Dorado and Telfair Street.
Crossings and tributaries
From mouth to source (year built in parentheses):
*
Van Nuys Boulevard (1948)
*Saticoy Street (1933)
*Raymer Street
*Railroad:
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...
Coast Line
*Unnamed channel departs
*
Roscoe Boulevard (1957)
*Chase Street
edestrian Bridge*Parthenia Street
*Rayen Street (1996)
*
Nordhoff Street
*Tupper Street
edestrian Bridge*Plummer Street
*Lassen Street
*Parking lot
*Woodman Avenue
*
Devonshire Street and Pacoima
Spreading Grounds
*Arleta Avenue
*Pacoima Diversion Channel departs
*
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...
Golden State Freeway and Paxton Street ramps (1963 and 1976)
*
Laurel Canyon Boulevard (1954)
*
State Route 118 Ronald Reagan Freeway (1969)
*San Jose Street/Haddon Avenue
edestrian Bridge*
San Fernando Road (1925)
*Railroad:
Metrolink Antelope Valley Line
*Bradley Avenue/4th Street (1954)
*5th Street (1953)
*
Glenoaks Boulevard (1953)
*
Foothill Boulevard (1923)
*
Interstate 210 Foothill Freeway (1975)
*Lopez Dam
*Harding Street
*Gavina Avenue
*Pacoima Trail Road and private roads
References
External links
City of San Fernando: Pacoima Wash ProjectPacoima Beautiful.org: Pacoima Wash Vision Plan Initiative
{{Authority control
Rivers of Los Angeles County, California
Tributaries of the Los Angeles River
Washes of California
San Gabriel Mountains
Geography of the San Fernando Valley
Mission Hills, Los Angeles
Pacoima, Los Angeles
Panorama City, Los Angeles
San Fernando, California
Sylmar, Los Angeles
Van Nuys, Los Angeles
Rivers of Southern California