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ballona
creek, early 20th century |
 allona
Creek once meandered through the Ranchos of the Los Angeles Basin.
During the rainy season, it and several other small streams would
be transformed into torrents as they carried the collected water
from the Los
Angeles watershed area to the Santa Monica Bay. It would flood
large areas of the Los Angeles basin, and the creek's course shifted as that flooding carved new paths through the land.
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| Pacific Electric rails lines in
Lynwood destroyed by floodwaters, 1914. Photograph: US Army Corps
of Engineers
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The County of Los Angeles began straightening the creek around 1920
in order to protect the growing metropolis from potentially devasting
flood damage. During the 1930's, the Army Corps of Engineers carved
it into a large channel and lined all but its last couple of miles
with concrete to speed the water's flow to the ocean. An extensive
system of drains, mostly underground, was built to funnel stormwater
into the creek. While these projects were effective in accomplishing
the task at hand, the transformation of the creek from a natural waterway
into a massive stormdrain has broken a link in the ecological chain
and severed the connection between the community and the land on which
it resides.
Today, Ballona Creek is a nine-mile-long flood control channel. It drains
the Ballona
Creek watershed, which covers approximately 130 square miles: from
the Santa Monica mountains on the north to the Baldwin Hills on the south,
and from the Harbor Freeway (110) on the east to the Pacific Ocean. A
paved service road for County maintenance vehicles runs along the westernmost
seven miles, as does a bike path.
During dry weather the creek flows with urban runoff; the water level
and speed increase dramatically during storms. That runoff contains all
sorts of pollutants from our air, yards, businesses, schools, and streets
- trash, animal waste, oil and grease, pesticides and fertilizers, industrial
chemicals. One often finds large items, such as shopping carts, which
have been dumped in the creek. Algae accumulates in some places and graffiti
in others.
About four miles of the creek lie within the City of Culver City. The
rest of it is in the City of Los Angeles and, near the coast, the County
of Los Angeles. Depending on location, these agencies share responsibility
for maintenance and management of the creek and bikepath with the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers.
Gaining a deeper understanding of Ballona Creek, its history, and its place in our community will help you to recognize the importance of our goal: to revitalize it and reintegrate it into the life of the region.
To aid your understanding, we offer you:
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