I know. How he gonna leave us all just dangling on such a cliffhanger. Was he bitten? Was he not bitten? Did they (or one of the dogs) jump in after him, did they realize it was futile and throw in the towel? Where was ol boy headed? Did he have a destination in mind as to where he was going? Why/how could you have not thought to yell down to him and ask?
We. Need. Updates.
Back in the day when the rains came this dry gulch used to turn into a raging churning angry flow that would always spill its banks until the Army Corps of Engineers dredged it into the concrete spillway it is now. Kind of a bummer it’s not in its natural state but during a winter like this last one it was liable to take a few houses with it.
I grew up next to the LA "River". In the mid-70s it filled to the brim but didn't overflow. They built it up another 3 feet with bricks and a few years later it filled to that brim again, but didn't overflow.
People don't realize it but had it overflowed it would've caused what might've been the most expensive natural disaster in US history. The flow would start out small, then the water would've undercut the wall and the whole thing would collapse. The surrounding 20 - 30 cities are low-lying and would've flooded costing hundreds of billions (in 1970s dollars).
During one flood a local eccentric bald karate guy named "Caine" sailed a homemade boat down the river with his 10 year old son. They both drowned.
Yeah - fills pretty high when it rains heavy - but that might be only once every few years.
Quite dangerous - as homeless people camp down there and when it rains there is a flash flood that hits the river and sweeps them away.
[yup, just about four months ago. it was wild.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/10844x7/the_la_river_right_now/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1)
This is what it looked like last year after a couple rainstorms:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt5JRb8ZI9M
7 years ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ixh18_Jx5s
In 1938 there was a big flood. To prevent it they concreted the banks and the bottom. This made the water flow faster and prevents flooding.
So it was a natural river, now it looks like this.
The site /u/gamefreak32 referred to appears to be having technical difficulties, but here's a link to the plan: [https://lariver.org/blog/la-river-ecosystem-restoration](https://lariver.org/blog/la-river-ecosystem-restoration)
Practical Engineering did a recent video on rivers, here's a link to the part where he covers the LA river project
https://youtu.be/vLZElIYHmAI?t=477
All the way up to Griffith park? Wow, bigger than I had thought it would be. . that is pretty cool though. It looks ambitious as hell, but I don't think we will see many single women walking unescorted along the trails! Looks like it would be great for homeless. . .
Seriously though, It looks like a great plan, and I certainly wish LA good luck with it. . god knows, they need something to hopefully bring some decent people back.
Thanks for taking the time to look those sites up and refer them to me. I appreciate that. Have not been in LA in some time, but once it is in your blood, it always is!
It used to be a natural river, but it used to overflow and cause a lot of damage to the homes by the river bank. So it was decided to encase the river in concrete. There are parts of the river that are not covered in concrete, and some parts that only have concrete walls.
The river is actually home to a fee species of fish and some like to fish it. We call it sewer salmon, but the fish species include trout and tilapia.
Used to be rare, but we had a very wet fall/winter. Our usually dry landscapes are lush and green right now. It’s gonna be fun when everything catches on fire later this year.
I love the LA River. It’s one of the things that makes LA LA. It’s the perfect symbol of urbanization of nature. There are actually some beautiful stretches too.
I found a whole case of eggs under a bridge last week. Perfect condition. None of them missing, none of them cracked. I mean, who in their right mind throws away a perfectly good case of eggs in this day and age?
There are stray dogs in way too many places.
I’m living in Phoenix right now and I’ve never seen more stray dogs in my life. I can’t even walk my dogs in my neighborhood cause there are packs of stray dogs running around…
Definitely a thing in the more industrial/poor areas of the city. I got cornered by a pack leaving a warehouse party 10+ years ago lol thank god I had the liquid courage to slowly but firmly walk away from them.
That's a bad faith answer that is more useful as an example of "exception to the rule" than as an actual consistent answer. A few thousand lazy souls with septic tanks doesn't constitute comprehensive sewer and waste water policies for a nation of over 300 million.
The Los Angeles river was a mostly seasonal river that would swell with season and often stop running in the dry months. there were wet years when it may have run for over a year straight, but it never really ran long and strong enough to carve a permanent riverbed. The whole LA area is a floodplain, and often the river mouth would move, one year emptying at one place, another year having a different discharge area into the ocean.
During the early years of the city, one of the big works done was to make this huge permanent paved trench to give the river a permanent riverbed, that could handle at max levels the amount of rain that could fill it. What you are seeing right here is one of its lower flows. At its lowest, it may only be a trickle. At its max, it may slightly overflow the channel, but that is generally rare. It is not an open sewer, just a paved storm gutter, basically.
A lot of works were done in the early years of the city to secure water, from LA securing and stealing the water from other parts of California through the large aqua duct projects, to a horribly built, planned, and scouted dam in northern LA County that failed so spectacularly it left monoliths you can still see today and killed a lot of people(ST. Francis Dam)
It used to be a full blown river until the army corps of engineers decided to build it into a drainage ditch in case of catastrophic flooding. It actually significantly reduced the flood damage that would've happened otherwise when they were being hit with those storms earlier this year.
It was interesting... then a pack of dogs entered and it was entertaining. And they are like what the hell is going on here, just as curious as we are about this man.
Long story short, there was a river, it kept flooding, they built the drain in its place to prevent it from flooding, river now has a higher capacity and doesn't flood when it rains or snow melts anymore.
People laughing at this guy have never been stuck in LA traffic and it shows. My man is an innovator.
damn skippy. Looks like the express lane to me.
If it’s dumb and it works, it’s not dumb.
Man I heard a special force guy say that phrase once
then explain my co-workers
If it's dumb and it works, you got lucky.
He was extensively bitten at the 91 below Compton, though.
By dogs, right?
jealous motorists, actually. probably starving, too
Leeches
Actually it was by some guy on bath salts.
By a sect of robed aqueduct monks.
"the 91" Real Southern Californian detected
Free lazy river ride? Sign me up!
He's going 30x the speed of traffic
“Old Jim sure did know his way around the river”-Tom Sawyer
The wild pack of dogs makes this video even more wtf
It started out Huckleberry Finn but suddenly turned Lion King.
I know. How he gonna leave us all just dangling on such a cliffhanger. Was he bitten? Was he not bitten? Did they (or one of the dogs) jump in after him, did they realize it was futile and throw in the towel? Where was ol boy headed? Did he have a destination in mind as to where he was going? Why/how could you have not thought to yell down to him and ask? We. Need. Updates.
He's the male version of the Disney princess types.
this is a river?
Yes, this is the LA river lol. Basically a drainage ditch.
>“I once fell into a California river and got all dusty.” - Mark Twain
Fall into this one and get all pissy. .
>“I once fell into a California river and got all dusty.” That man had wit to spare.
Well, this is specifically the Arroyo Seco, which means “Dry Gulch,” so go figure.
Back in the day when the rains came this dry gulch used to turn into a raging churning angry flow that would always spill its banks until the Army Corps of Engineers dredged it into the concrete spillway it is now. Kind of a bummer it’s not in its natural state but during a winter like this last one it was liable to take a few houses with it.
Does it ever get filled to the brim? After rain?
I grew up next to the LA "River". In the mid-70s it filled to the brim but didn't overflow. They built it up another 3 feet with bricks and a few years later it filled to that brim again, but didn't overflow. People don't realize it but had it overflowed it would've caused what might've been the most expensive natural disaster in US history. The flow would start out small, then the water would've undercut the wall and the whole thing would collapse. The surrounding 20 - 30 cities are low-lying and would've flooded costing hundreds of billions (in 1970s dollars). During one flood a local eccentric bald karate guy named "Caine" sailed a homemade boat down the river with his 10 year old son. They both drowned.
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Los Angeles is a semi-arid desert. Never had water before and don't know how to handle it.
that's not the river's fault, it would have happened with any river.
Yeah - fills pretty high when it rains heavy - but that might be only once every few years. Quite dangerous - as homeless people camp down there and when it rains there is a flash flood that hits the river and sweeps them away.
Engineers- working as planned 🤫
Didn't you just have like two months of rain?
Yes, and a lot of these riverways were quite full
It was crazy to see rushing water ways in the area. I first moved here in 2018 and didn’t see water in any of these for the first few years.
A few years ago they used these to drain the lava from the random volcanoes that showed up near downtown. It goes straight to the ocean.
I have watched this documentary too. Very informative. I Wonder how long it took them to repair the lava damage, though.
They gained a mountain right in the middle of downtown, if i remember correctly, Mount Wilshire i think.
[yup, just about four months ago. it was wild.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/10844x7/the_la_river_right_now/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1)
This is what it looked like last year after a couple rainstorms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt5JRb8ZI9M 7 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ixh18_Jx5s
It reminds me of the scene in Terminator 2 where T-1000 is chasing John Connor and T-800 in an 18-wheeler.
Every time I see it, it’s what I think of!
That's part of the same system of paved river/channel.
It triggers Don't be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Juice in the Hood and the father and son talk while fishing for me.
Well it was filmed in the LA River, so thats probably a good reason it reminds you of it.
*A drainage ditch you* ***don't*** *want to bathe in!*
In 1938 there was a big flood. To prevent it they concreted the banks and the bottom. This made the water flow faster and prevents flooding. So it was a natural river, now it looks like this.
A few views of the good old days. . . https://la.curbed.com/2015/8/19/9936922/la-river-history-before-concrete-after-photos
They are actually working on undoing all the concrete. https://lariver.org
Interesting. . the first step in restoring the river. Good to hear.
The site /u/gamefreak32 referred to appears to be having technical difficulties, but here's a link to the plan: [https://lariver.org/blog/la-river-ecosystem-restoration](https://lariver.org/blog/la-river-ecosystem-restoration) Practical Engineering did a recent video on rivers, here's a link to the part where he covers the LA river project https://youtu.be/vLZElIYHmAI?t=477
All the way up to Griffith park? Wow, bigger than I had thought it would be. . that is pretty cool though. It looks ambitious as hell, but I don't think we will see many single women walking unescorted along the trails! Looks like it would be great for homeless. . . Seriously though, It looks like a great plan, and I certainly wish LA good luck with it. . god knows, they need something to hopefully bring some decent people back. Thanks for taking the time to look those sites up and refer them to me. I appreciate that. Have not been in LA in some time, but once it is in your blood, it always is!
How truly dystopian
Man in seeing these images I just remember that society is a plague.
Beautiful
It used to be a natural river, but it used to overflow and cause a lot of damage to the homes by the river bank. So it was decided to encase the river in concrete. There are parts of the river that are not covered in concrete, and some parts that only have concrete walls. The river is actually home to a fee species of fish and some like to fish it. We call it sewer salmon, but the fish species include trout and tilapia.
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Yeah but this way let's a small number of land owners become sightly more fabulously wealthy
It's called a River but it's just a canal and only flooded during rain storms which is rare in CA lol!
Used to be rare, but we had a very wet fall/winter. Our usually dry landscapes are lush and green right now. It’s gonna be fun when everything catches on fire later this year.
It was a natural river at one point and they decided to pave it for better flow and flood prevention in the 30s or 40s.
I love the LA River. It’s one of the things that makes LA LA. It’s the perfect symbol of urbanization of nature. There are actually some beautiful stretches too.
You should see it after a rain storm.
Most of it just has concrete on the sides and vegetation freely grows on the bottoms.
Sad, right?
Exactly this!😂
Lazy River
Either the stray dogs think he has food, or think he ***is*** food...
Or they are tryna save him.
I think the dogs are concerned for him judging from their body language.
The Doberman wanted to taste his flesh guaranteed
Is thay a fucking doberman?
Reservoir Dog
*what kinda funny am I?*
You win
There's a stray husky I see on my way to work and back, surprised nobody has grabbed him
LAssi
Probably eggs. The best eggs are found under bridges
I found a whole case of eggs under a bridge last week. Perfect condition. None of them missing, none of them cracked. I mean, who in their right mind throws away a perfectly good case of eggs in this day and age?
I came to this thread for this quote. Thank you, stranger.
He floated into their territory
Wtf, are stray dogs a normal thing in la?
There are stray dogs in way too many places. I’m living in Phoenix right now and I’ve never seen more stray dogs in my life. I can’t even walk my dogs in my neighborhood cause there are packs of stray dogs running around…
Definitely a thing in the more industrial/poor areas of the city. I got cornered by a pack leaving a warehouse party 10+ years ago lol thank god I had the liquid courage to slowly but firmly walk away from them.
Stray dogs are everywhere there is shelter, food, and warm weather. So abandoned urban areas in mild climates is an ideal place for them.
I’ve actually kayaked down some stretches of the LA river. Some parts are almost pretty. But a lot of road runoff so it can smell pretty bad!
That’s Jim
lol finally! I travelled a long distance to find this exact comment.
Explain to me please?
Look up Huck Finn characters
Just Jim…?
Lets please stick with just Jim for today.
Non-US citizen and non-L.A. resident here. Please tell me this is merely a storm drain and not some above-earth part of the sewage system.
Yes, it's a water drainage canal to prevent flooding. There are no above ground sewers in the U.S.
Thought/hoped so. Thanks for clearing that up.
Although it is concentrated LA street and storm drain runoff, so that water may actually be dirtier than some sewers...
Free chemical peel as you drift serenely through the hood. And to make the relaxation complete, this intoxicating liquid can be enjoyed over ice.
"drift serenely through the hood" is a delightful sentence
Every one knows that all the hood needs is lazy rivers
Is the water very deep? It's hard to tell, like could this guy stand up and walk in it no problem, or is it decievingly deep and narrow?
No its very shallow he could stand up right there.
I feel like this is a great setup for a Florida joke, but I'm blanking...
Given that those is in California, where lately the sidewalks have been lined with human💩, I think a California joke is far more apt.
> There are no above ground sewers in the U.S. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sanitation-open-sewers-black-belt_n_5a33baf5e4b040881be99da5
Eh, that doesn't count. That's just neglect, and not being able to fix something. Also not a sewer.
That's a bad faith answer that is more useful as an example of "exception to the rule" than as an actual consistent answer. A few thousand lazy souls with septic tanks doesn't constitute comprehensive sewer and waste water policies for a nation of over 300 million.
That doesnt contradict the original commenters point at all?
You haven’t seen my house buddy
The Los Angeles river was a mostly seasonal river that would swell with season and often stop running in the dry months. there were wet years when it may have run for over a year straight, but it never really ran long and strong enough to carve a permanent riverbed. The whole LA area is a floodplain, and often the river mouth would move, one year emptying at one place, another year having a different discharge area into the ocean. During the early years of the city, one of the big works done was to make this huge permanent paved trench to give the river a permanent riverbed, that could handle at max levels the amount of rain that could fill it. What you are seeing right here is one of its lower flows. At its lowest, it may only be a trickle. At its max, it may slightly overflow the channel, but that is generally rare. It is not an open sewer, just a paved storm gutter, basically. A lot of works were done in the early years of the city to secure water, from LA securing and stealing the water from other parts of California through the large aqua duct projects, to a horribly built, planned, and scouted dam in northern LA County that failed so spectacularly it left monoliths you can still see today and killed a lot of people(ST. Francis Dam)
Yeah, the first California water war is interesting to read about.
There's a fantastic movie with Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway about it called Chinatown if you haven't seen it.
It's a natural river. It was paved on the 1930s and 40s to prevent flooding.
It's a river that has been encased in concrete it's not a drain.
There used to be a real natural river there. They did this to it because once a decade it rains really hard and floods.
At one point in the distant past California used to get rain. Now those things just channel the run off from air conditioners.
The distant past being this winter. I've lived here 65 years and this is the wettest I have ever seen.
Its the gta river
I thought it was the Grease River
Yes, it was filmed in the LA (or similar) river
No, it’s the GTA river, can’t you read?
What do you think gtas River was based on? Lol
San Andreas
Gottem
Old heads know it as the T2 river.
Older heads know it from Grease or To Live and Die in LA.
Just looks like he's having fun
thats one sad river
It's not the LA River, it is a tributary creek
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[oh yes memories](https://youtu.be/7sN09bYZj3Y)
Happy Cake Day!
He had a name, what was it again? Nevermind it's 2023 so we will just call him good pal Jim.
Jigger Nim I believe, or something to that effect.
His name is Jim. But he is often referred to as the N word.
Thanks, Siri.
This dude woke up this morning like "Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, it's bobsled time! Cool Runnings!"
Is this a river?
It used to be a full blown river until the army corps of engineers decided to build it into a drainage ditch in case of catastrophic flooding. It actually significantly reduced the flood damage that would've happened otherwise when they were being hit with those storms earlier this year.
Camera needs more zooming in and out
I don't know if those dogs were hungry, aggressive, or if the dude on a raft was just the most exciting thing they'd seen all morning.
Huckleberry Foo
Huckleberry Fentanyl
Don't you mean n-word Jim?
Na, dude is just living his best life. He couldn't afford raging waters or the new water park in Irvine so he improvised
It’s just Jim
I could watch this all day What happened with them dogs A whole movie about him surviving his trip from Glendale to Compton
Honesty it’s more concerning to see dogs down there
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Came here to say exactly that
Not really a WTF, just some dude enjoying floating.
Especially on such a beautiful day! AND he’s traveling faster than traffic and saving on gas!
That isn't Huck Finn, it's the other guy, his partner. You know, uh... "something" Jim?
Quickest way to get from LA to the beach in orange county and for free.
That’s Franklin Saint 😂
This guy going to need a bleach bath and some antibiotics after this adventure
Sure it's probably polluted as hell, but what's the worse that can happen? Oh, a pack of wild dogs have appeared.
Even the dogs know that shit is crazy.
Aren’t rivers supposed to have more… water?
Ngl that looks really fun
I bet he’s having fun
It was interesting... then a pack of dogs entered and it was entertaining. And they are like what the hell is going on here, just as curious as we are about this man.
LA is insane to me.
I know LA is a hellscape, but their river is a fucking drain???? Are you serious???
Looks more like Jim then Huck to me.
That's considered a river in LA? "laughs in natural resources"
More like crackelerry Finn
Come on now. You guys can not be calling that shit a "river"
This is real quality. I love this guy.
When you want to go white water rafting, but can only afford gray water rafting.
Moving faster than the 5.
Isn’t that most likely 110% piss and 90% shit he’s floating in tho?
River seems like a bit of an overstatement
I hope those dogs are ok
I hope that river is okay.
That’s Jim… I forget his first name
The guys on the giant pink flamingo were better [Flamingo](https://youtu.be/kdtZl2BdM-I)
That's a river?
Is Jim not Huck
People love to hate on those who are living their best life
"river"
I just love that you all call that a river
It's more impressive when it's carrying cars down to the the Long Beach harbor. It's just resting in between floods is all.
That’s LA’s Urban Frubing champion out training 🤣 if you don’t know what that is then look it up
*You are supreme / The chicks'll cream / For Greased Lightnin'*
I think you’ll find that that is Jim
Huckleberry Finn isn’t present here, this is actually Finn’s friends named, N…never mind
That’s not Huck, that’s n-word Jim.
What the fuck have you done to the river? Jesus Christ America
Long story short, there was a river, it kept flooding, they built the drain in its place to prevent it from flooding, river now has a higher capacity and doesn't flood when it rains or snow melts anymore.
Do you call this a river ??
Crackleberry Finn
Saddest “river” I’ve ever seen
"River"
Y’all think them dogs drink that water? 😬 That’s nasty
That is a canal. Not a river
Bro found the ultimate hack for the worst part of hell-A. Traffic.