Monday March 31, 2025
DVIDS —
Robyn Colosimo, senior official performing the duties of the assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, visited three reaches of the Los Angeles River Feb. 27, 2025, to receive a close-up look at the LA River Ecosystem Restoration Project.
Colosimo’s LA River site visit was the final part of her three-day visit to the Los Angeles District area of operations in the last week of February, with much of her time dedicated to meeting with leaders and their teams taking on the California wildfire response mission.
For the LA River Ecosystem Restoration Project site visit, Colosimo was joined by a group of leaders including Maj. Gen. Jason Kelly, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deputy commanding general for Civil Works and Emergency Operations; Joseph Savage, senior executive and programs director with USACE South Pacific Division; Col. Andrew Baker, LA District commander; Justin Gay, Deputy District Engineer, and Priyanka Wadhawan, project manager and deputy chief with the LA District’s Mega Projects Division, as she spoke with City of Los Angeles officials Edward Belden, LA River Ecosystem Restoration project manager, and Mara Luevano, capital projects delivery manager, about the status and direction of the project.
The LARER Project is a joint effort between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District and the City of LA to ecologically restore an 11-mile stretch of the river, extending roughly from Griffith Park to downtown LA, and includes plans for riparian habitat and freshwater marsh restoration to support increased populations of wildlife and enhanced habitat connectivity throughout 719 acres and eight reaches or segments of the river.