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 affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or 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 drain the surrounding drai ...

of the

Tujunga Wash Tujunga Wash is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 16, 2011 stream in Los Angeles County, California. It is a tributary of the Los Angeles River, providing about a fif ...

, itself a tributary of the

Los Angeles River , name_etymology = , image = File:Los Angeles River from Fletcher Drive Bridge 2019.jpg , image_caption = L.A. River from Fletcher Drive Bridge , image_size = 300 , map = LARmap.jpg , map_size ...

, in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. There are actually two historical parts to the Pacoima Wash—the Pacoima Wash north of the METROLINK, and Pacoima Wash south of the METROLINK, an covered up, altered, and destroyed part. The stream begins at Mount Gleason, , in the western

San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains ( es, Sierra de San Gabriel) are a mountain range located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies betw ...

of the

Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the U.S. Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County in southern California. The ANF manages a majority of the San Gabriel Mountai ...

. The upper reaches, sometimes known as Pacoima Creek, flow through Pacoima Canyon as a rapid mountain stream. It then reaches the

Pacoima Dam Pacoima Dam is a concrete arch dam on Pacoima Creek in the San Gabriel Mountains, in Los Angeles County, California. The reservoir it creates, Pacoima Reservoir, has a capacity of Built by the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, which b ...

Reservoir in the western

of the

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 fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

flood control channel, and travels south from Kagel Canyon in

Sylmar Sylmar is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley and is the northernmost neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles. Historically known for its profusion of sylvan olive orchards, Sylmar can trace its past to the 18th century and th ...

though San Fernando, Pacoima, Mission Hills,

Panorama City Panorama City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. It has a generally young age range as well as the highest population density in the Valley. Ethnically, more than half of its population was born a ...

, 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 1909, ...

. But nature was substantially altered. In 1911, the developers of the Van Nuys townsite bulldozed Pacoima Wash from Sherman Way to the Los Angeles River, for 3 miles, replacingg it will Tyrone St. a 50’ wide street/flood channel. Years of flooding downstream followed. Van Nuys flooded in the great Los Angeles flooding in 1938. In the 1950’s drastic efforts finally were made to protect Oacoima Wash neighbors. Just after

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south 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 through the states of Californi ...

, the stream was diverted to the Pacoima Diversion Channel,joining Tujunga Wash further upstream. The Pacoima Wash Headwotks were created —-also—-where the Interstate 5 interchange is, for settling of high flood volumes. Most water, and most threat of flooding were diminished. Forty one 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 at Raymer St this channel was directed to Van Nuys Bl. But there was more Pacoima Wash, south of the METROLINK. All of the Pacoima Wash south of the METROLINK was altered—bulldozed away—in preparing the 1911 townsite of Van Nuys. The Wash was graded away—Tyrone St became the channel for the Wash, in flood time, from Kittridge to the Los Angeles River, 2 1/2 miles south. Not without cost—flooding in Van Nuys was an issue every year. A In the great 1938 Los Angeles rains and flood, parts of Van Nuys flooded. Through the 1960’s, Van Nuys Elementary kept a pontoon bridge for kids to cross Tyrone St when it was a foot deep but 30 feet wide. Parts of the original streambed disappeared—and can be traced behind the YMCA. The Knights of Columbus is shoehorned in a 100 foot wide channel. The flooding issues remained until the 1950’s 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.

Recent history

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 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 West Nile virus (WNV) is a single-stranded RNA virus that causes West Nile fever. It is a member of the family '' Flaviviridae'', from the genus '' Flavivirus'', which also contains the Zika virus, dengue virus, and yellow fever virus. The v ...

. Pacoima Wash has been the site of several rescues of people, mostly of children and teenagers trapped in the spring runoff. Recent stories have appeared in 1985, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, and 2006. In recent years 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 12-mile 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 4.75 acre 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 The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...

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 Ground A spreading ground is a water conservation facility that retains surface water long enough for it to percolate into the soil. Spreading grounds must be located where underlying soils are permeable and connected to a target aquifer. Locating them ...

s *Arleta Avenue *Pacoima Diversion Channel departs *

Golden State Freeway Interstate 5 (I-5) is a major north–south route of the Interstate Highway System in the United States, stretching from the Mexican border at the San Ysidro crossing to the Canadian border near Blaine, Washington. The segment of I-5 in ...

and Paxton Street ramps (1963 and 1976) *

Laurel Canyon Boulevard Laurel Canyon Boulevard is a major street in the city of Los Angeles. It starts off at Polk Street in Sylmar in the northern San Fernando Valley near the junction of the San Diego ( Interstate 405) and the Golden State (I-5)) freeways. Laurel Ca ...

(1954) * State Route 118 Ronald Reagan Freeway (1969) *San Jose Street/Haddon Avenue edestrian Bridge*

San Fernando Road San Fernando Road is a major street in the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County. Within the Burbank city limits it is signed as San Fernando Boulevard, and north of Newhall Pass it is signed as The Old Road. It was previously designated ...

(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 Project

Pacoima Beautiful.org: Pacoima Wash Vision Plan Initiative
{{Coord missing, Los Angeles County, California 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