Situated in the heart of the San Fernando Valley, the Sepulveda Basin presents a singular opportunity to weave together the urban grid of LA with over 2,000 acres of vibrant ecological habitat and robust cultural and recreational assets. Communities to the north of the basin have long been underserved, and, despite the adjacency to the basin, many lack access to equitable open space and a connective urban fabric.

The Sepulveda Basin Vision Plan proposes a bold path forward for the basin based on community equity, climate resilience, and biodiversity. Objectives include enhancing access and connectivity, creating slow-streets and dedicated multi-modal lanes, constructing new community facilities, flood mitigation, water quality improvements, water supply conservation, recreation, cultural, and education enhancements, and operations and maintenance improvements.

The Vision Plan was initiated by the LA City Council in 2021 and led by the LA Department of Public Works Bureau of Engineering. It is the first comprehensive plan ever completed for the basin. The planning process was wide ranging and interwoven with the involvement of thousands of community members including Tribal members who are direct descendants of the village named Siutcanga on this land. Over 100 agencies and nonprofits participated.

The Vision Plan proposes nature-based solutions for improving the climate resilience of the basin and surrounding communities. Located upstream of the historic Sepulveda Dam, the basin presents one of the only opportunities to de-channelize and re-naturalize two miles of the mainstem of the LA River channel and over four miles of tributaries. This vision would remove concrete, widen the banks, and restore river and floodplain function and allow for the creation and restoration of over 1,000 acres of habitat areas as well as up to a 25% increase in flood capacity within the basin.