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S T O R Y PHOTOS CREDIT: JONATHAN COFFIN
the area into a ranch, which was called Rancho La Ballona, paid for by a grant from the Mexican government. With this development, the Ballona Wetlands endured conflicting functions of its natural landscape and catering to livestock. Since then, the Ballona Wetlands endured years of development and decay. This also included speculation of a DreamWorks studio being plotted over the land and excess sediment when Marina del Rey was developed in the 1960s. Now, the land is owned and managed by the CDFW.
Overview of the Restoration Project
Ecological Gem The Ballona Wetlands are rich with nature, history, educational value and controversy The Ballona Wetlands are the last coastal wetlands remaining in Los Angeles and there is much controversy on finding the right way to preserve it. By Holly Jenvey he Ballona Wetlands are the last coastal wetlands remaining in Los Angeles. Many are vouching for its survival; however, there is controversy on finding the right way to preserve it. “My generation is exposed to so much destruction of our environment, and we are begging leaders to make decisions based on what is best for the planet,” said Genesis Butler, a 14-year-old environmentalist and the founder of Youth Climate Save, at a news conference for the Ballona Wetlands on July 21. Situated south of Marina del Rey and east of Playa del Rey, extending to west of Playa Vista and south of the Westchester Bluffs, the Ballona Wetlands brings locals, tourists, schools and more to this ecological gem of the Westside. However, even as the Ballona Wetlands brings wonder to its visitors, it is also subjected to lack of precipitation and climate change. According to the Environmen-
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tal Protection Agency (EPA), wetlands are among one of the most productive ecosystems in the world. They can be thought of as “biological supermarkets,” which benefit both wildlife and humans. Wetlands provide food and habitats for species, which they use for most to all of their lifetime. They also protect from flooding, improve quality of water and control shoreline erosion while providing economic opportunities. As the Ballona Wetlands are valuable to many, there is a divide on how they should be preserved. Currently, there are four alternatives. The main divide rests on whether to implement the restoration plans made by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), which involves using mechanics (alternative one) or to leave the wetlands be and implement a 20-point “gentler approach” proposed by Defend Ballona Wetlands (alternative four). Over the years, this dispute has yet to be settled as lawsuits from opposing parties
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continue to be posed. However, will the wetlands win against the race of climate change? “The wetlands as an ecosystem, I see as being unhealthy because it has been starved of water,” said Eric Strauss, executive director of the Loyola Marymount University Center for Urban Healing. “So the natural processes of tidal flow have long been suppressed, and just like natural fires are a nourishing and regenerative force in forests, storm surge and flooding is a critical aspect of the rejuvenation of wetland systems.” Strauss worked with wetlands both in LA and on the East Coast, and explained how different climates affect their vitality. The Ballona Wetlands is located in an urban area with a Mediterranean climate where precipitation comes in extremes. LA receives most of its precipitation from a few storms during the year, which makes the wetlands diverse with animals and plants that adapt to long periods of water stress. However, Strauss explained how
these extremes are beneficial in terms of remapping and rebuilding the wetlands’ ecosystems. “Our efforts in the Ballona Wetlands are more complicated than in other wetland systems to a degree because we have to mechanically mimic what storms and water would do if they were allowed to move unimpeded,” Strauss said, adding that these efforts would also contain protecting built structures. From working with Loyola Marymount’s Center for Urban Resilience, Strauss sees a problem with the term “restoration,” as it should instead be called “transformation.” Restoration assumes a time when the Ballona Wetlands were untrammeled by human urbanization. On the other hand, transformation signifies recovering the ecosystem services the wetlands once provided.
History The Ballona Wetlands was founded by Agustin Machado around 1820. Machado turned
Richard Brody, the land manager for the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve, working for the CDFW, explained how restoration is the long-term solution for the wetlands. The plans for restoration were mandated as a part of the original acquisition of the lands. When the CDFW acquired the land in 2003, there was a bond measure in 2000. This was the Coastal Protection Bond Act, of which $25 million went to restoring habitats in the Santa Monica Bay. This extends from Malibu to Palos Verdes, including the Ballona Wetlands. “We need to still protect surrounding infrastructure,” Brody said. “So, if we take these levees down, we need to move them to the perimeter. There’s no way anyone would responsibly just tear these levees down and say, let nature figure it out.” The Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) explains how the objectives and purpose of the Restoration Project fall under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). However, there is pushback to the restoration plans due to different environmental perceptions.
Sea level rise Part of the restoration plans include removing the existing levees and replacing them with new ones further away from the creek. Walter Lamb, president of the Ballona Wetlands Land Trust, is opposed to this change because the environmental impact analysis shows that removal of the existing levees would expose current breeding habitat for endangered and
