Burbank Western Channel is a 6.3 miles (10.1 km) tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Los Angeles River

Los Angeles River

The Los Angeles River is a river that starts in the San Fernando Valley, in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and flows through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the western end of the San Fernando Valley, nearly southeast to its mouth in Long Beach...

 in the eastern San Fernando Valley

San Fernando Valley

The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...

 of Los Angeles County, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

The stream begins at the confluence of Hansen Heights Channel and La Tuna Canyon Lateral in Sun Valley

Sun Valley, Los Angeles, California

Sun Valley is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California, about 15 miles away from Downtown Los Angeles....

. It runs adjacent to Interstate 5

Interstate 5 in California

Interstate 5 is a major north–south route of the Interstate Highway System in the U.S. state of California. It begins at the Mexico – United States border at the San Ysidro crossing, goes north across the length of California and crosses into Oregon south of the Medford-Ashland metropolitan...

 for most of its length and is entirely encased in a concrete

Concrete

Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

 flood control channel

Flood control channel

Flood control channels are a series of large and empty open-air channels that extend a ways below the street levels of some larger cities, so that if and when a flood occurs, the flood will run into the channels, and proceed to be drained to the proper body of water...

. The stream travels southeast through the western part of Burbank

Burbank, California

Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....

, the Riverside Rancho area of Glendale

Glendale, California

Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...

, ultimately joining the Los Angeles River by the edge of the Los Angeles Equestrian Center.

In 1991, the city of Burbank was sued by the EPA

United States Environmental Protection Agency

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...

 for allowing companies to exceed discharge limits into the channel. Leading pollutants in the stream include algae

Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...

, ammonia

Ammonia

Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...

, cadmium

Cadmium

Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, bluish-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Similar to zinc, it prefers oxidation state +2 in most of its compounds and similar to mercury it shows a low...

, odors, unnatural scum/foam, and trash.

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, abbreviated ARRA and commonly referred to as the Stimulus or The Recovery Act, is an economic stimulus package enacted by the 111th United States Congress in February 2009 and signed into law on February 17, 2009, by President Barack Obama.To...

, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

United States Army Corps of Engineers

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...

 has planned to allocate $700,000 to repair the channel wall which is "currently in danger of failing."

In October 2009, Burbank reached an agreement with the state on the 12 mile San Fernando Bikeway, a new bicycle path

Bicycle Path

Bicycle Path is a historic road in Central Suffolk County on Long Island, New York, built in the late 19th Century in order to capitalize on the bicycle craze of that period...

 along San Fernando Boulevard from Sylmar

Sylmar, Los Angeles, California

Sylmar is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. The northernmost neighborhood in the city, Sylmar is located east of Interstate 5 and north of the city of San Fernando...

 to Burbank. This would include a portion next to the channel that connects to the Downtown Burbank Metrolink Station

Downtown Burbank (Metrolink station)

The Burbank Metrolink Station, sometimes referred to as the Burbank Transportation Center, is a Metrolink rail station near downtown Burbank, California. It is served by Metrolink's Antelope Valley Line to Lancaster and Ventura County Line to Montalvo, Ventura and both terminating at Los Angeles...

.

Crossings and tributaries

From mouth to source (year built in parentheses):

• Los Angeles Equestrian Center [Pedestrian/Equestrian Bridge]
• Riverside Drive (1940)
• Victory Boulevard
  Victory Boulevard
  Victory Boulevard is a major thoroughfare on Staten Island, measuring approximately 8.0 miles and stretching from the west shore community of Travis to the upper east shore communities of St. George and Tompkinsville. In the late 1940s, the portion of Victory Boulevard between Richmond Avenue and...
  
   (1940)
• West Alameda Avenue (1949)
• West Elmwood Avenue [Pedestrian Bridge]
• South Lake Street/West Providencia Avenue (1949)
• West Verdugo Avenue (1949)
• Abandoned Railroad
• West Olive Avenue (1949)
• East Magnolia Boulevard (1949)
• Abandoned Railroad
• Abandoned Railroad
• Submerged from South Front Street to Interstate 5
• Submerged under North San Fernando Boulevard past Landis Street
• North Buena Vista Street/Winona Avenue (1958)
• Ramps from and to Interstate 5
  Interstate 5 in California
  Interstate 5 is a major north–south route of the Interstate Highway System in the U.S. state of California. It begins at the Mexico – United States border at the San Ysidro crossing, goes north across the length of California and crosses into Oregon south of the Medford-Ashland metropolitan...
  
  (1960)
• Cohasset Street (1958)
• North Hollywood Way (1962)
• Lanark Street (1962)
• Glenoaks Boulevard (1962)
• Nettleton Street (1961)

Hansen Heights Channel

• Vinedale Street
• Penrose Street
• La Tuna Canyon Road
• Tuxford Street
• Private road
• Sunland Boulevard
• Pendleton Street
• Clybourn Avenue
• Submerged past Stonehurst Avenue

La Tuna Canyon Lateral

• Vinedale Street
• Jordan Lane
• Private road
• Village Avenue
• Wildwood Avenue
• Martindale Avenue
• Morning Glow Way
• Private roads x5
• La Tuna Canyon Road