use between Memorial Day and Labor Day in 2013. In May 2014 it was announced that two sections of the river would again be open for recreational use during the summer.

The Los Angeles City Council formed an ad hoc committee in 2002 to focus on accessing and revitalizing the river that was chaired by Councilmember Ed Reyes. The California Coastal Conservancy, a state agency, published its Los Angeles River Park and Recreation Study in 1993, identifying potential projects along the river.  In 2006, Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa visited South Korea to look at their river restoration project for the Cheonggyecheon. 

As a result of the Ad Hoc River Committee's efforts, and with funding from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the City of Los Angeles’as assignee.
The specifications made provision for an independent cover-section for the seat cushion, and one for the back, each with a matting panel of interwoven strands of grass, cane or other vegetable fiber, covering the cushion surface, reinforced along the edges, on both top and bottom, with cloth strips, stitched together through the matting, and with one of the reinforcement strips extended to provide a means for securing the cover. In the case of the seat section, the cloth projection was to serve as a valance for the cushion and was to be fastened underneath it with a draw-cord. In the case of the back section, the cloth was to be extended sufficiently to enable the cover to be fastened with tacks or straps.
In the drawings, a somewhat