The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works (LACDPW) requests proposals to prepare a Master Plan for the San Gabriel River.

INTRODUCTION

In Los Angeles County(County), increasing interest in recreation, open space, and habitat areas along river corridors has prompted the need to develop a plan to better incorporate these resources into the functionality of the San Gabriel River(River). The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a motion on September 7, 1999, to develop the San Gabriel River Master Plan (SGRMP). The SGRMP will be a tool to establish the River as an integral part of the community, to enhance the community's quality of life by providing protection, benefit, and enjoyment to the public.

The planning effort for the SGRMP has been in progress for the past two years. A group of stakeholders has been guiding the development of the SGRMP. The stakeholders include cities adjacent to the River, regulatory agencies, water professionals, and interested community and environmental groups. Over the past two years, the stakeholders have participated in an information exchange process. During this time, LACDPW continuously updated the list of issues and concerns. After the list of issues and concerns was developed, the stakeholders participated in a series of workshops to identify goals and objectives for recreation, habitat, and open space. The stakeholders then spent several months developing a Vision and set of Broad Goals, which will guide the SGRMP.

The SGRMP planning area includes the River Corridor from the outlet of Morris Dam (approximately four miles north of the City of Azusa in the San Gabriel Canyon) to the outlet in the Pacific Ocean. Also included in the SGRMP, will be the areas upstream of Morris Dam in the Angeles National Forest that are under County jurisdiction. The stretch of River corridor from Morris Dam to the Pacific Ocean is approximately 37 miles in length and includes two dams and reservoirs (Santa Fe, Whittier Narrows), and the area above Morris Dam includes three Dams and reservoirs (Morris, San Gabriel, Cogswell).

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the SGRMP is to advocate and identify potential enhancements of the River's resources. While understanding that the River has necessary functions that it must achieve for flood protection and groundwater recharge and storm water conservation, the SGRMP will seek to enhance and establish recreation, open space, and habitat within these parameters. The SGRMP will identify opportunities, constraints and possibilities to enhance the following:

• Recreation - the SGRMP will look at existing recreational facilities and identify opportunities for improving and/or providing additional enhancements.
• Open Space - the SGRMP will look at existing and future open space in and adjacent to the river corridor and identify opportunities for open space enhancements for multiple uses.
• Habitat - the SGRMP will study habitat conditions along the river corridor and investigate opportunities for enhancements.

As the development of the SGRMP has been a stakeholder driven process, the SGRMP will strive to accomplish the following Vision and Broad Goals set forth by the stakeholders:

Vision:

The San Gabriel River will be the corridor of an integrated watershed system while providing protection, benefit and enjoyment to the public.

Goals:

The following goals of the Master Plan support the vision for the San Gabriel River.

• Preserve & enhance habitat systems through public education, connectivity, and balance with other uses;
• Encourage & enhance safe and diverse recreation systems, while providing for expansion, equitable and sufficient access, balance, and multi-purpose uses;
• Enhance & protect open space systems through conservation, aesthetics, connectivity, stewardship, and multi-purpose uses;
• Maintain flood protection and existing water and other rights while enhancing flood management activities through the integration with recreation, open space, and habitat systems;
• Maintain existing water and other rights while enhancing water quality, water supply, groundwater recharge, and water conservation through the integration with recreation, open space, and habitat systems.

The SGRMP will seek to achieve/include the following:

• Implementation plan
• Environmental document to implement the plan
  
  

SCOPE OF WORK

The following scope is provided as a guide to accomplish the objective stated above. The consultant is responsible for completing the specified tasks listed below and meeting the objective of the SGRMP. In achieving the stated objective, the consultant is not necessarily limited to these tasks. The consultant is encouraged to include in the proposal any additional tasks deemed crucial in accomplishing the stated objective.

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