Flood Channel Cleanup & Bike Trail Repair Update

By Laurel Busby

News & Information Editor

On Monday, City of L.A. Sanitation (LASAN) began a cleanup of the lower flood channel that caused some unpleasant odors for residents nearby.

Resident Sharon Kilbride reported on Tuesday that the lower channel was “really smelly.”

“That mud is gross, and they are staging it east of Short St. in the channel for pickup later,” she said.

Debris was bulldozed to the side of the waterway to dry out, and the plan is to remove it by Tuesday, Aug. 26, according to LASAN representative Heather Johnson

“LASAN staff are clearing out the debris that built up behind the inflatable dam,” Johnson said. “The built up debris can interfere with the operations of the system that diverts low-flow stormwater to the sewer system to be treated at the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant.””

The project joins two other endeavors that local government is overseeing in the Canyon. L.A. Public Works has been doing both flood channel repairs in Rustic Canyon and bike trail reconstruction by the ocean.

Inspector Pedro Mendoza, who is overseeing the bike trail project, said his crew would be grading south of the flood channel, rebuilding the washed-out bridge, and repairing the bike trail. His project is intended to last 100 working days. It began Aug. 1, and is scheduled to be done by Jan. 15. However, he estimated that the completion date might extend to the end of January due to rain and other potential delays.

Further up the Canyon, the 0.6-mile Rustic Canyon soft-bottomed channel, which was built in the 1960s by the L.A. County Flood Control District, has been undergoing repairs from both the Palisades Fire and the flooding that followed in February, according to Elizabeth Vazquez, a Public Works public information officer.

“Fire-related repairs have been completed, but work on storm-related and earlier damages is still underway,” Vazquez said. “The remaining repairs are expected to be finished by October 2025.

(A previous article about the lower flood channel cleanup mistakenly attributed the work to Public Works instead of LASAN.)

Debris that has been pushed to the side of the flood channel to dry out prior to removal.