Melanie Winter, who fought for embracing nature along the Los Angeles River, dies

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Melanie Winter, who dedicated much of her life to reimagining the Los Angeles River as a natural asset, has died.She was 67.Winter worked persistently for nearly three decades to spread her alternative vision for the river and its watershed, calling for “unbuilding” where feasible, removing concrete and reactivating stretches of natural floodplains where the river could spread out.Leading her nonprofit group the River Project, she championed efforts to embrace nature along the river, saying that allowing space for a meandering waterway lined with riparian forests would help recharge groundwater, reduce flood risks and allow a green oasis to flourish in the heart of Los Angeles.She developed ambitious plans for rewilding parts of the river channel and nearby areas, and helped spearhead new riverfront parks as well as neighborhood “urban acupuncture” projects that replaced asphalt with permeable paving, allowing rainwater to percolate underground instead of running in concrete channels to the ocean.“She was a voice for nature and a voice for the river,” said Rita Kampalath, L.A.

County’s chief sustainability officer and a longtime friend of Winter’s.“She had such strength of her convictions, and she was so clear-eyed in the vision that she wanted to push forward.

And I think that inspired a lot of people.”Winter had lung cancer but continued working and attending local water meetings even as her health declined.She died Tuesday night at a Los Angeles hospital where friends had been visiting to spend a little last time together.

“I think what always drove her was the sense of, it was a river that had been contained in concrete … and that nature-based solutions could do a better job,” said Conner Everts, a friend and leader of the Southern California Watershed Alliance.“Her goal was to re-create a natural meandering river, with the ability to recharge i...