Ballona Watershed, uncovered

Ballona Creek is one of Los Angeles’ principal waterways. The Ballona Wetlands, where it discharges into Santa Monica Bay, have been partially preserved due to intense efforts by Angeles Chapter activists and others. But where does that water come from?

The watershed of Ballona Creek encompasses 130 square miles. It spans from Griffith Park and Mulholland Hwy, to Westchester and South LA, to Dodger Stadium and USC, including much of the cities of Los Angeles, Inglewood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Santa Monica and unincorporated parts of L.A. County. Sepulveda Channel, Benedict Canyon, and Centinela Creek are major tributaries, but there are hundreds of miles of minor drainages that feed into it. But almost all the creek and its tributaries are in concrete channels and much of it is buried in underground storm drains.

In dry months the creek has an average flow of 25 cubic feet per second of water. (A cubic foot is about four times the volume of a basketball). During rain storms the flow can be more than 10 times higher. This year-round stream should be feeding the aquifers that help sustain the plants, animals and human population of the Los Angeles Basin.

Join us for a Ballona Watershed Bus Tour on Sept. 23 for a firsthand look at L.A.'s important resource.

Instead, its waters are shunted to the sea with almost no opportunity to replenish the groundwater. Even worse, many residential, commercial and transportation projects extend below the water table and are forced to pump out enormous quantities of water every day, all of which is dumped into concrete storm drains. The cumulative effect is to lower the water table. That means trees die off, springs dry up, salt water is drawn into aquifers, and the L.A. Department of Water and Power and the Metropolitan Water Department have to import more water from outside the area. 

Despite its reputation as a desert, the Los Angeles Basin used to be saturated with water. Cienegas, springs, and sloughs filled landscape with habitats for native plants and animals. Now, 48% of the watershed is covered in impermeable surfaces, and most of it is fully developed. The water that does make it to the creek is polluted by urban runoff.

With more than 1.6 million residents, the Ballona Creek Watershed is highly urbanized, with most drainage courses lined with concrete and approximately 85% of the land area occupied by homes, businesses, roads, and similar uses.

Currently, L.A. imports 89% of its water from more than 200 miles away at over twice the cost of conserving and using local rainwater. Los Angeles uses about 20% of all California electricity and 20% of our natural gas to pump this imported water to Los Angeles. This year both the City and County of Los Angeles committed to “water resilience” which means capturing and using our own local rainwater. 

But it doesn’t have to be this way. 

Angeles Chapter activists and others, led by Jeanette Vosburg of the Airport Marina Group, are working to “daylight” portions of the buried Ballona Creek. They’re looking for opportunities to create pocket parks that would filter and infiltrate its flow. They’re promoting “urban acupuncture” that can allow rainwater to seep into the ground naturally. In August, the Central Group led an exploration with Jeanette of one of the Ballona Creek’s tributaries, Fern Dell in Griffith Park, to learn about the past, present, and future of the creek. 

Will McWhinney is a leader and instructor for the Wilderness Training Course and an activist with the Angeles Chapter's Central Group.