Comparing two rivers: the Portneuf River and the Los Angeles River
Submitted by Eric Rude on Mon, 2015-06-08 00:00
I grew up in Los Angeles, so the "rivers" I was familiar with were the Los Angeles River (see attached picture) and Ballona Creek, both in huge concrete channels for most of their length, often with very little water flowing. So, when I moved to Pocatello, I was shocked to see the Portneuf River looking like a mini version of the LA River! And, when I started teaching, I was also shocked to find out how many people just accepted the Portneuf the way it was, considering it basically a "sewer" through town, and that they could do nothing about it. From 1991 to 2008, I got my students involved in Students Investigating Today's Environment (SITE), which was a state-wide river monitoring program (Matt Looze—weren't you part of that?). We tested the water quality every April and October, then discussed what could be done to fix some of the problems. Usually, we found very high numbers of fecal coliform, high turbidity, and high phosphate (and sometimes nitrates). Even though we weren't able to solve the Portneuf's problems, the students became more aware of the issues it faces.
I uploaded to youtube a video of the presentation I used to show my students. (One of my favorite facts here is about the numbers of rivers on Idaho's 303d list—how the state originally claimed there should only be 36!) Hope you find it interesting! (If anyone would like the original Keynote or Powerpoint presentation, we can figure out a way to get it to you.)
It's good to be looking at our river again!
Comments
Property rights
That is definitely a problem. Many of the people who live along the river don't want to have public areas in their backyard, and refuse to sell their property. The city had talked about eminent domain, but that brought up quite an outcry. Houses are built right up to the edge of the concrete channel, so there is no easy answer.
Article in teacher resources about the LA river
I am surprised by the similarities between the Portneuf and the LA river. I think it is so important to me educate students about the river and the potential it has with restoration. This is a sentence out of that article that is very similar to Ben Cody's first blog entry, "Yet Angelenos have lost their fifty-one-mile river in plain sight—and can’t see the essential daily connections from the river to their lives." That describes so many Pocatello, natives too. In so many ways we have no connection to the river. I do think that situation is slowly improving and there is hope for the Portneuf. On any good weather day you can find people enjoying parts of the greenway. Economics play such a big role in moving forward and addressing the concrete channel. I hope those that care about the river can keep up their attention long enough to find a solution and put it into action.