LOS ANGELES — A South Korean delegation of 20 engineers and Gyeongbuk Province river-sector officials learned about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District restoration project June 6 on the bank of the Los Angeles River at Lewis MacAdams Riverfront Park.
The group consisted mostly of engineers. Some of the delegates were county and city public officials from Gyeongbuk-do Province river and water departments. The delegation was interested in how LA District manages flood control using advanced technologies to improve their own integrated flood control prevention system for their province. They visited the Colony Channel in Fresno, California, and Hoover Dam before arriving in Los Angeles.
“The engineers had some problems with river rehabilitation and revitalization in some places in South Korea,” said Sang Oh “Eddie” Cha, translator for the delegation. “They wanted to visit the LA River because it’s one of the big rivers in California. They want to learn new things from the LA system.”
District commander Col. Julie Balten, who previously served in the Republic of Korea, welcomed the group in their native tongue, much to their surprise and appreciation.
She and the LA team provided an overview of the Corps’ LA River flood-risk management and ecosystem restoration project for the group through Sang. The Koreans wanted to see different perspectives on how the Corps tackles flood control for the greater Los Angeles area while balancing engineering with nature.
“The importance of this visit is to exchange information across countries about the best ways to manage our water systems,” LA City River Revitalization coordinator Michael Affeldt said.
Affeldt led the group discussion, and LA County Department of Public Works Storm Planning Division principal engineer Ramy Gindi made a presentation from the county’s viewpoint before fielding questions.
Project specifics were provided by LA River project manager Priyanka Wadhawan and Trevor Snyder, Rivers and Channels project manager.
“It’s important to have collaboration between countries because we can learn so much from each other, especially restoring rivers in urban areas,” Wadhawan said. “It’s very innovative, very challenging, very complex technologies and systems we’re using, so it’s good to learn from each other. I’m glad they visited — their questions were insightful.
Questions ranged from construction techniques on how the Corps is restoring the Los Angeles River to working with the public and politicians.
“It was a good opportunity to share with our Korean partners and Los Angeles stakeholders the operational maintenance undergone within the Los Angeles River to highlight,” Snyder said. “Especially, flood capacity and flood protectional risks within a highly urbanized area,”
Gyeongbuk-do, located on the eastern side of the Korean peninsula, is the largest province in South Korea The province, comparable to a U.S. state, has 13 counties with 2,644,757 residents according to a 2020 census. It includes major electronics and steel production.
“I would imagine Los Angeles is somewhat similar to the highly urbanized area in South Korea, so it was important to share with them the work we’re doing within the soft-bottom reaches to maintain an appropriate flood protection for the people,” Snyder said.