# Rushes in washes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 6, 2000, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rushes-in-washes/7020 "2000-02-06T04:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2000, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rushes-in-washes/7020/21 "2000-02-10T02:06:00Z")
Although can’t find any dictionary that backs me up on this, I have always considered a barranca to be a man-made, concrete-lined channel that street gutters drain into. At least that’s what we called them when I was a kid. We had one running behind the house I lived in when I was 9. They were great for skateboarding. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2000, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rushes-in-washes/7020/22 "2000-02-10T02:14:00Z")
FWIW, concrete lined channels in L.A. are usually refered to as “flood control channels”. The L.A. River actually _is_ a river. A long time ago the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers got the bright idea to straighten it and line it with concrete so as to improve it’s flood control capabilities. Of course, all of that water that used to percolate into the aquifers now runs right into the Pacific Ocean. Huell Howser did an episode of his program (I think it’s now called _Visiting_) on KCET (PBS) about the L.A. River several years ago. He and a guide went from the northern-most part and followed it to the bay; sometimes in a canoe. Parts of it are still “natural” and very pretty. There have been periodic movements to make it more park-like to give people a new place to go, but I think the county is concerned about liability. It’s plenty dangerous, as can be seen annually when helicopters have to chase people who have fallen in and rescue them. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2000, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rushes-in-washes/7020/23 "2000-02-10T02:45:00Z")
They freakin’ took a natural river and lined it with concrete?? And they thought that was a _good_ idea?? What the hell were they thinking? :: :pounding head against keyboard::: Ow. That hurt. “Flood control channels.” That sounds good (and accurate enough) to me. I knew not _all_ of them could be this horribly disfigured LA River. How long ago was that bright idea carried out? (Disclaimer: posting under the influence of flu and a fever. I’m finding all kinds of malaprops and misspellings and overall bad writing in my posts from today. Right now, I don’t care. Later, I will. Hope you don’t. 🙂 ) * * * Teaching: The ultimate birth control method. [Laura’s Stuff and Things](http://members.aol.com/lrconaway) ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2000, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rushes-in-washes/7020/24 "2000-02-10T02:46:00Z")
Dammit, I did not want that tongue smiley thing. Moderator! _Moderator_! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2000, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rushes-in-washes/7020/25 "2000-02-10T03:06:00Z")
I don’t remember when the flood control channels were created. I want to say the 20s or 30s, but I’m just not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2000, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rushes-in-washes/7020/26 "2000-02-10T05:00:00Z")
Johnny, I was referring to the concretization of the LA River. When was that done? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2000, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rushes-in-washes/7020/27 "2000-02-10T13:53:00Z")
The short answer: 1936. The medium answer: > [@](#): > > Congress gave significant power to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Flood > Control Act of 1936. With federal funding in place, the Army Corps plan called for extensive concrete channeling of the river. > > Two years after channelization began, after a week of rain, the most damaging flood in the history of Los Angeles county struck. The flood of 1938 left millions of dollars of destruction, wiped out much of earlier flood protection, and killed 85 people. However, where channelization had been implemented > the damage was not as severe and engineers were able to see which control measures worked and which measures did not. Areas that had been constructed of reinforced concrete had withstood the flood, and after the 1938 flood, with this information in hand, the Army Corps proposed increasing the amount of channelization. The new program was approved in which over 400 miles of the river and its > tributaries were to be encased in concrete. Complicating this effort was the fact that much of the river was privately owned. Landowners more interested in the potential for future development than flood protection, forced acquisition of the right of way to be kept to a minimum. The paving of 51 miles of the Los Angeles River was begun mile by mile, with the request for funds for beautification or watershed management labeled as superfluous. The long answer: See [http://www.folar.org/history.html,](http://www.folar.org/history.html,) from which the above quote was excerpted. Here is another L.A. River site: [http://www.lalc.k12.ca.us/target/units/river/riverweb.html](http://www.lalc.k12.ca.us/target/units/river/riverweb.html) And finally, one from the Museum of Natural History: [http://www.nhm.org/education/publicscienceday/lariver.html](http://www.nhm.org/education/publicscienceday/lariver.html) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2000, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rushes-in-washes/7020/28 "2000-02-10T13:56:00Z")
Oops. Got a comma in the FoLAR URL. Here it is again: [http://www.folar.org/history.html](http://www.folar.org/history.html) ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2000, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rushes-in-washes/7020/29 "2000-02-11T19:12:00Z")
Some definitional help: > [@](#): > > Main Entry: 2wash > Function: noun > Date: 15th century > **1 a** : a piece of ground washed by the sea or river **b** : BOG, MARSH **c** (1) : a shallow body of water (2) : a shallow creek **d** West : the dry bed of a stream – called also _dry wash_ > [@](#): > > Main Entry: dry wash > Function: noun > Date: 1872 > West : WASH 1d > [@](#): > > Main Entry: ar·royo > Pronunciation: &-'roi-(")O, -& > Function: noun > Inflected Form(s): plural -royos > Etymology: Spanish > Date: 1843 > **1** : a watercourse (as a creek) in an arid region > **2** : a water-carved gully or channel > [@](#): > > Main Entry: bar·ran·ca > Pronunciation: b&-'ra[ng]-k& > Variant(s): or bar·ran·co /-(")kO/ > Function: noun > Inflected Form(s): plural -cas or -cos > Etymology: Spanish > Date: circa 1691 > **1** : a deep gully or arroyo with steep sides > **2** : a steep bank or bluff Contrast the word **river** , which is not really the bed so much as it is the flowing water (don’t talk to me about it, just read the definitions 😉 ). In Southern California, there are few ‘rivers’ that actually flow year-round. Thanks to the fact the area is not only a natural desert but also gets almost all its rain over only three or four months in the winter, there simply isn’t any ready source of constantly running water. Because the area was originally colonized by the Spanish, Californios tend to use old spanish words to describe the channels left by the streams of the area, such as _arroyo_ and _barranca_. In most of its length through the San Fernando Valley and the Los Angeles Basin, the Los Angeles River is neither an arroyo or a barranca, just a dry stream that is now encased, along with the San Gabriel, Santa Ana, and San Juan rivers among others, in concrete. Perversely, in LA, they often route freeways alongside the concrete rivers, a different river of concrete that is rarely without flow. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rushes-in-washes/7020.md?page=1)