The Army Corps of Engineers has triumphantly announced that they’ve wiped out graffiti in the LA River. Yes, months after contractors began covering up SABER’s giant piece and MTA’s massive roller, the glorified ditch has been whitewashed, thanks in no small part to more than $800k in federal stimulus funding.

And other than the creation of some new jobs, officials still have no good rationale for blowing their wad on temporarily dressing up the little-seen drainage canal. To ensure graffiti writers don’t quickly paint over their work, Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey E. Koontz of the Corps admits that “we will have to be on it all the time…and that’s going to take a lot of vigilance,” lasting through the next year, or maybe longer if someone wants to continue funding the wasted effort. |LAT|

Photo by Luis Sinco/LAT