Sepulveda Basin Vision Plan | OLIN

Situated in the heart of the San Fernando Valley, the Sepulveda Basin presents a singular opportunity to offer 2,000 acres of vibrant ecological habitat and robust cultural and recreational assets to the surrounding underserved communities and Los Angeles. Driven by community needs and priorities, the Vision Plan proposes a bold path forward for the basin based on community equity, climate resilience, and biodiversity. Objectives include flood mitigation, water quality improvement, water supply conservation, recreation, culture, and education enhancements, habitat connectivity, and operations and maintenance improvements.

The Vision Plan was initiated by the City of Los Angeles City Council in 2021 and led by the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works Bureau of Engineering (BOE) and Department of Recreation and Parks (RAP) in collaboration with the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) and Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC). The Vision Plan builds on prior planning efforts by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and others to maximize opportunities for recreation, improve access and mobility throughout the basin, improve habitat areas and ecosystem functions, and improve the flood risk management of the basin. The Vision Planning process has been wide ranging and interwoven with the involvement of thousands of community members and coordination with over 100 agencies and nonprofits.

The Vision Plan proposes nature-based strategies for improving the climate resilience of the basin and surrounding communities. Located upstream of the historic Sepulveda Dam, the basin presents one of the only opportunities to de-channelize and re-naturalize two miles of the mainstem of the LA River channel and tributaries. This vision would remove concrete, widen the banks, and restore river and floodplain function and allow for the creation and restoration of over 1,000 acres of habitat areas as well as a 10% increase in flood capacity within the basin.

As a catalytic project for the San Fernando Valley, investments in and around Sepulveda Basin will aim not only to advance climate resilience but also economic and social resilience of residents in the surrounding neighborhoods. The plan envisions a coordinated approach of nature-based infrastructure improvements radiating from the basin site, investments in workforce and economic development programs, and long-term community capacity building. Taken together, these strategies will result in investments and programs that address inequities related to extreme heat exposure, economic opportunity, and the
clean energy transition in underserved communities near the basin.

The full Vision Plan was released to the public in draft form in October 2023 and will be adopted in 2024. The Vision Plan lays out the implementation of the plan’s objectives in 47 projects across a 25-year horizon. The Vision Plan has already ignited support as well as political and agency coalition-building for funding at the local, state, and federal levels to invest in the future of the communities of Los Angeles.

Sepulveda Basin Vision Plan

Designer Company: OLIN

Collaborators: 
Geosyntec Consultants, Prime, Lead Engineer, Water Resources, River Engineering
PSOMAS, Ecology, Environment, Civil Engineering
Agency: Artifact, Landscape Architecture
Gruen Associates, Architecture
Alta Planning + Design, Transportation and Mobility
Estolano Advisors, Funding and Strategy
The Robert Group, Community Engagement
Pacoima Beautiful, Community Engagement Support
Leland Saylor, Cost Estimating

Image Credits: OLIN

About Damian Holmes 3449 Articles
Damian Holmes is the Founder and Editor of World Landscape Architecture (WLA). He is a registered landscape architect (AILA) working in international design practice in Australia. Damian founded WLA in 2007 to provide a website for landscape architects written by landscape architects. Connect on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/damianholmes/