Why Culver City Residents Should Get Involved with the Ballona Wetlands Restoration Planning

Walter Lamb

 

When my wife and I moved to Culver City over 10 years ago, we were thrilled to discover a bike trail just a few blocks from City Hall that leads all the way down to the ocean.  The entire trail provides excellent opportunities to see many species of wild birds.  Just shy of the ocean, residential neighborhoods and office buildings give way to wide open spaces on both sides of the trail, hosting an abundance of wild plants and animals.  This is the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve and it can make you forget that you are in a city of several million people.   The Ballona Wetlands Land Trust helped secure a hard fought victory to preserve this land, and now we are working to spread awareness of its importance to the surrounding community, and to promote greater public participation in the ongoing process to help this ecosystem reach its maximum potential.

The Ballona Wetlands have a long and rich history that cannot be covered adequately in this article.  The area has seen many inhabitants, from the native Gabrielino/Tongva peoples to Mexican rancheros to Howard Hughes’ famous aircraft company.  It has also undergone many changes as a result of natural events such as earthquakes and human activity such as agriculture, industry, development and the creation of the adjacent Marina Del Rey.  The fight to set aside a meaningful portion of the Wetlands began in earnest in the 1970s, when Hughes’ heirs allowed planning to begin for a massive development on the site.

After working together for many years, conservationists became split over whether to settle with the developers for a relatively small parcel of land, or to keep fighting for a larger area.  While labeled by many as unrealistic at the time, the perseverance of the latter group was ultimately successful in expanding the amount of preserved land to 600 acres, which now make up the State-owned preserve.  While this was an important victory for the Wetlands, restoration planners acknowledge that the limited size of the preserve is still a constraining factor.  We will never know how much more land might have been spared from development had conservationists maintained a united front.  Instead, we must now turn to address the present opportunities and challenges facing this precious natural resource.

A project management team consisting of federal, state and county agencies has entered into the Environmental Impact phase of a project to enhance the ecological health of the Ballona Wetlands.  They have presented several alternate plans to the public, and it is now our responsibility to provide feedback that will guide their research and influence their ultimate project design.  The deadline for providing public comment is October 23^rd.  Not participating in this process is analogous to not voting in an election.  If you don’t make your voice heard now, you can’t blame anyone else if you aren’t happy with the outcome later.

There are many strong opinions regarding the various project details that have been presented, which range from doing nothing to reconstructing the area with heavy equipment, including removing the concrete levees along Ballona Creek and rerouting the creek itself.  Some have argued that such a large scale effort is needlessly expensive, risky, and disruptive to existing wildlife and habitat.  Others have argued that a large scale effort is the only way to achieve the proper conditions for a fully functioning wetland ecosystem.

Luckily, you do not need to choose a position or become an expert in wetlands management to make an important contribution to this process right now.  All you need to do is to care about the Wetlands enough to submit public comments to the project team that reflect your hopes and concerns for this important area.  Your comments might address a particular species of bird or other animal, they might ask the project team to further study the potential impacts of polluted water on the Wetlands, or they might ask for more information relating to how each project alternative would further prepare the area for expected sea level rise due to climate change.  Any aspect of the environmental impact of the project is an appropriate topic for comment.

The Ballona Wetlands Land Trust is ready to help you get involved.  We are committed to working objectively with experts and advocates of all perspectives to help members of the public get the information they need to make informed public comments now and informed decisions about the final project proposal when it is completed.   We believe that this is the best way to ensure the best possible outcome for this critical coastal ecosystem.

Please contact us today to get involved in this important process.

Email: landtrust@ballona.org

Phone: 310-264-9468

Web: www.ballona.org/restoration

 

Walter Lamb is a culver city resident and the President of the Ballona Wetlands Land Trust.