Editorial. Carlos Aguilar writes about Tongva natives' "Creation Myths and all of this rain." He warns that Santa Anita Dam above Sierra Madre runs the risk of overflowing as do several other 14 dams built in the first half of the twentieth century.
More than 11 acres of pristine native oak woodland at the Arcadia/Monrovia border, adjacent to Wilderness Park, are scheduled to be cut down to create a dumping ground for sediment dredge from the Santa Anita Dam, in a Los Angeles County Public Works project. The dam gets cleared out every 20 years or so. About 500,000 cubic yards of dirt and debris clogging the dam will be removed. Glen Owens, a founder of the Big Santa Anita Historical Society and a Monrovia planning commissioner, said the dirt shouldn't be dumped in one of only two native woodlands left in the San Gabriel Valley. Arcadia Councilman Bob Harbicht wants to hold a meeting with the city and county public works officials to clarify plans for the dirt dispersal.
Los Angeles County Public Works is scheduled to clear 11.3 acres of pristine native oak woodland to dump tons of sediment dredged from Santa Anita Dam. Glen Owens, a founder of the Big Santa Anita Historical Society and a Monrovia planning commissioner, hopes it's not too late for a grass roots effort to oppose or at least postpone the project. The sediment dump would be entirely in Arcadia.
1. Announcement of gold digging activity in Big Santa Anita Canyon in the mid 1880s. Clip from Pony Express Courier, March 1938. Copied from Mr. Sid Platford's copy. 2. Copy of claim staked for placer mining in Santa Anita Canyon in 1877 and filed with the Los Angeles County Hall of Records. …
1. Announcement of gold digging activity in Big Santa Anita Canyon in the mid 1880s. Clip from Pony Express Courier, March 1938. Copied from Mr. Sid Platford's copy.
2. Copy of claim staked for placer mining in Santa Anita Canyon in 1877 and filed with the Los Angeles County Hall of Records. The names appear to be J.N. Varnay or Vannay and Henry Matheys. Given to Library by Richard Courtney April 1981.
Los Angeles County agrees to a minimum 30-day moratorium on its plan to cut down 11.1 acres of oak and sycamore woodland for a dumping site for debris dredged from the Santa Anita Dam. The site is below Arcadia's Wilderness Park. During this time, opponents to the project will be looking at alternatives and the county will communicate the project's impact to the environmental community.
Santa Anita Dam sediment project is nearly complete but residents and activists continue to question Los Angeles County's intentions for demolishing the 11-acre Arcadia Woodlands 1.5 years ago. Following the removal of the trees on January 12, 2011, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works has been moving mud and debris from the dam to the middle and lower sediment placement sites by a massive conveyor belt. Moving the dirt makes flood control and water conservation possible for the neighboring populations of Arcadia and Sierra Madre.
Los Angeles County keeps environmental activists and media off the site where the 11 acres of oak tree woodlands are being bulldozed near Wilderness Park. It is called Santa Anita Dam Sediment Placement Site. Activists were unable to save the area from becoming a debris basin. See related story "Razing woodland: protesters watch as trees are cut down" Pasadena Star News, January 13, 2011, p. A1, A7.
A $222,000 study is underway to determine the strength of the Santa Anita Dam under extreme earthquake stress. The study is to be completed by February 1977.
Image of Santa Anita School by Edwards Photography. The school was located at 1900 South Santa Anita Avenue from about 1950 until June, 1981. In 1982, Arcadia Christian School moved in to this location.
Los Angeles County supervisor Mike Antonovich plans to set aside $650,000 of county funds to re-seed the oak woodland habitat in Arcadia that was demolished last week for flood control purposes, after mud and debris dredged from the Santa Anita Dam has been spread at the site. Bob Spencer, spokesman for Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, said there is much more debris poised to come down the hills and "We need to find a solution." Other county wilderness areas face destruction to make way for sediment. Officials are already considering the relocation of sediment from Devil's Gate Dam, which could end up on a 40-acre mature black willow woodland in the Hahamongna Watershed Park. Environmental activists won't let that happen without a fight.
Chantry Flat Road, also known as Santa Anita Canyon Road, will reopen to the public on Wednesday, April 16, despite unfinished repairs. Fire in the Santa Anita Canyon had forced a 6-month closure of the road.
Santa Anita Courthouse, located in Monrovia, which serves Monrovia, Arcadia, and Duarte, is being considered for shutdown by the Los Angeles Superior Court Executive Committee.
Close-up view of one row of about 11 units of tarpaper covered housing put up for the evacuees at Santa Anita Assembly Center for the Japanese. Santa Anita Canyon can be seen in about the center of the mountains in the background.
