The Soft Edge concept envisions a soft-edged River on the east bank with a significant amount of new riparian and upland habitat consistent with the ARBOR Study objectives. The existing concrete trapezoidal channel would be modified to a create a series of terraces called the “Bio-plateau” that will manage both dry and wet weather storm runoff from the site and adjacent neighborhood through a series of wet meadows, bogs, and vernal pools. By creating an undulated edge, the traces of the historic River’s natural processes (erosion, sedimentation, meandering water) are exposed and provide visitors with a tactical experience of the fluvial geomorphic process. The interior of the site consists of four main components: Taylor Plaza, The Fields, and La Loma, which are all linked by the Esplanade and would give visitors a layered experience of the site’s past, present, and future ecologies where nature is entangled with human programs. The existing LADWP power lines and towers on the east Riverbank would be relocated to an alignment on the east side of the Project site and incorporated into the native nursery.
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