San Gabriel River

Signs warning surfers about polluted waters near the mouth of the San Gabriel River will again be posted near the popular surfing spot, two months after the city took down a similar sign posted by the Surfrider Foundation. This time, the signs will stay. The original sign said, "Surf With Caution!" It was removed by the Recreation Department because it was not an officially sanctioned sign. The city recently ordered replacement signs with identical wording.

The House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill Wednesday authorizing the study of how to preserve the natural banks of the San Gabriel River watershed for recreation. Rep. Hilda L. Solis (D-El Monte) is seeking to turn the river's watershed (roughly the riverbank lands north of Santa Fe Springs through Pico Rivera, El Monte, Monrovia and up to the San Gabriel Mountains) into an urban park area. Sen. Barbara Boxer introduced a companion bill in the Senate earlier this week.

I have not been able to read all of your Explorer series, and do not know if you made any reference to the disastrous flood of the river and the San Gabriel River, which occurred in February, 1914. Your articles prompted me to start digging back into some very old files until I found the front page articles of The Times for Monday, Feb. 23, 1914, giving detailed accounts of the flooding and the death of my father, the Rev. Harry Gillingham, who lost his life in rescuing families whose homes were being swept away.

A federal panel has approved $500,000 to study how to preserve the natural banks of the San Gabriel River watershed for recreational uses. Rep. Hilda L. Solis (D-El Monte) is seeking to turn the river's vast watershed--roughly the riverbank lands north of Santa Fe Springs through Pico Rivera, El Monte, Monrovia and up to the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains--into a meandering urban park and recreational area.

Caltrans data show that 21 freeway bridges, interchanges and connector roads in the San Gabriel Valley are still too weak to withstand a strong earthquake. After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in the Bay Area, Caltrans in 1990 identified road structures statewide that needed retrofitting because the columns supporting them tend to fracture in a quake. Caltrans scheduled 243 structures in Los Angeles County for quake strengthening, 48 of them in the San Gabriel Valley.

The state has filed suit against the Los Angeles County Flood Control District contending that a pilot project to remove sediment in the reservoir behind Morris Dam could kill fish and wildlife in and around the San Gabriel River. The Superior Court suit by the California Department of Fish and Game seeks an order requiring the county to perform a full environmental impact report before any more work is done on the project at the dam above Azusa in San Gabriel Canyon.

Homeless people who have set up camp under bridges along the San Gabriel River in Cerritos may soon have to find shelter elsewhere. The City Council voted unanimously this week to set aside $55,000 to put up fences around five areas where the homeless often camp. By early next year, the city plans to install iron gates under bridges at 183rd and South streets, as well as those at Artesia and Del Amo boulevards. A fifth gate is planned for the area over Coyote Creek at Del Amo Boulevard.

If the City Council has its way, Duarte cable subscribers will be able to watch Raiders games for free if the football team moves to neighboring Irwindale. Duarte Councilman John Fasana suggested at a recent council meeting that Duarte residents should receive the cable rights as compensation for having to endure the crowds and heavy traffic. "It's a reasonable thing to ask," Fasana said. "If (residents) are going to be confined to their houses, this will be something to do."