Ballona Creek

The Ballona Creek watershed totals about . According to a 1948 report in the Venice Evening Vanguard, "The total area drained by Ballona Creek consists of square miles of coastal plain and of foothills and plain range from sea level to and in the mountains from to . The average gradient of the valley floor is about and that of the canyon channels is about . The longest distance at any given time taken by the water in this drainage system is ." Before most of Los Angeles' watercourses were buried underground, Ballona Creek drained the whole of the west Los Angeles region and fed directly from a chain of and lakes that stretched from the Hollywood Hills to the Baldwin Hills. Land use in the watershed is 64% residential, 17% open space, 8% commercial, and 4% industrial. Natural channels remain at some of the headwaters of Ballona Creek tributaries, while the lower portion of the stream is encased in concrete channels either rectangular in the east or trapezoidal toward the west; to the west of Centinela Avenue, the bottom of the creek is unpaved and subject to tidal influence. Tributaries and drains • Brush Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, about long, begins in what everyone calls Bronson Canyon, roughly between the Hollywood Reservoir and Mount Hollywood, travels south, passes under Wilshire Country Club, enters the Arroyo de los Jardines, (also known as Longwood Stream and El Río del Jardín de las Flores) through the Brookside neighborhood of Hancock Park • Arroyo de la Sacatela – Shakespeare Bridge in Franklin Hills–Los Feliz was built to cross this watercourse, which fed Bimini Slough in what is now Koreatown; infrastructure built 1929 drained a area, which among other things permitted development of land below Santa Monica Boulevard between Mariposa and Kenmore • Ferndell in Griffith Park • Laurel Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, about long, draining a small area in the Santa Monica Mountains and flowing southward into Ballona Creek through La Brea Rancho (vicinity of Fairfax/Hancock Park) • Nichols Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, long, draining a small area in the eastern part of the Santa Monica Mountains and discharging southward into Ballona Creek through La Brea Rancho • Arroyo de Los Jardines – According to a 1937 news report, "Nearly all of the flood waters from Hollywood business and residential district eventually find their way into the Arroyo de Los Jardines channel, concentrating near Wilshire Boulevard and La Brea Avenue. The county flood control district has prepared a $361,000 plan to build a new and adequate channel for the Arroyo de Los Jardines between Wilshire and Ballona Creek. The water will pour into Ballona Creek, two blocks west of La Brea Avenue. Water from Nichols Canyon also reaches Ballona Creek by way of the Arroyo de Los Jardines." • Dry Canyon Creek (Arroyo Seco?) – an intermittent stream, about long, draining a small area in the Santa Monica Mountains and flowing southeastward to San Jose de Buenos Ayres Rancho (vicinity of Westwood/Holmby Hills) • Benedict Canyon Channel – constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1961–62 • Benedict Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, long, draining a small area in the Santa Monica Mountains, and flowing southward into Rodeo de las Aguas Rancho • Coldwater Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, long, draining a small area in the Santa Monica Mountains, and flowing southward and southeastward into Rodeo de las Aguas Rancho. Near the mouth of its canyon it receives streams draining Franklin and Higgins canyons. • Higgins Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, about long • Franklin Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, about long, draining a small area in the Santa Monica Mountains and flowing southward to its junction with Coldwater Canyon Creek • Peavine Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, about long, draining a small area in the Santa Monica Mountains and flowing southward to the mouth of its canyon near what is now Beverly Hills – essentially San Ysidro Drive • Sepulveda Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, about long, draining a small area in the Santa Monica Mountains and flowing southeastward toward Ballona Creek; sinks north of the VA in Brentwood • Sawtelle-Westwood Channel, plan in 1934 was a "large conduit from Pico Boulevard to Venice Boulevard and eventually southward to Ballona Channel"; construction began 1956 • Sepulveda Channel – sometimes called the Mar Vista drain, initial plans in 1927 were for it to begin at Midvale and Pico • Stone Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, about long, draining a small area in the Santa Monica Mountains and flowing southward into Westwood – still accessible on UCLA campus between Sunset Boulevard and the Anderson School of Management • Brown Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, about long, draining a small area in the Santa Monica Mountains, and flowing east of south to a point near Palms, where its waters would sink or might feed into Ballona during particularly wet yearscreek recently daylighted as part of the Westwood Greenway adjacent to Westwood/Rancho Park station • Centinela Creek Channel – ancient waterway, channelized in mid-20th century; rises near Centinela Park (once the site of Centinela Springs); surfaces near La Tijera Boulevard, The West Adams storm drain was built in 1925 and started at Vermont Avenue – a segment of the "West Adams sewer" under construction in 1926 presented "unusual engineering difficulties, it is said, because water is found within a few feet of the surface in almost the entire territory, which extends from Angeles Mesa drive [Crenshaw Boulevard] to the end of West Adams street and on either side of that street from Washington to Jefferson streets". • Rexford Channel • North Culver Drain Ballona Wetlands, Del Rey Lagoon, Ballona Lagoon, and Oxford Basin are connected to the Ballona estuary through tide gates. The Ballona watershed is estimated to have roughly 35% impervious surface, which affects rainwater infiltration and groundwater recharge. A 2011 study determined that as little as 2% of Ballona's water may now come from underground springs, meaning that 98% of the creek's flow consists of various forms of runoff throughout the watershed. == Crossings ==

From northern source to southern mouth (year built in parentheses): • Begins at South Cochran Avenue • South Burnside Avenue (1974) • Hauser Boulevard (1974) • Thurman Avenue (1974) • South Fairfax Avenue (1962) • - Santa Monica Freeway (1964) • La Cienega Boulevard (1937) • Washington Boulevard (1938)) (formerly National Boulevard north) to the left, E Line track overhead, and long-derelict Pacific Electric Santa Monica Air Line route to the right; with bypassing jogger on Ballona Creek Bike Path below. • Higuera Street (1938, • Duquesne Avenue (1938) • Sepulveda Boulevard (1985) • Sawtelle Boulevard (1988) • - San Diego Freeway (1960) • Inglewood Boulevard (1937) • Centinela Avenue (1938) • - Marina Freeway (1972) • Venice–Inglewood streetcar and freight route (crossing removed after 1980, pylons remain circa 2022) • - Lincoln Boulevard (1937) • Pacific Avenue Bridge (1928) – Now used only by pedestrians and bicycles as part of the Los Angeles Coastal Bike Trail, Pacific Avenue was once a car road continuous from Venice to Playa Del Rey, but the construction of the Marina “severed the north-south connection.” Several of these crossings existed as “small wooden bridges” of unknown age before they were replaced in the 1930s by WPA infrastructure projects. A 1900 railway map appears to show Ballona Creek crossings at Inglewood, Higuera, and La Cienega, and a crossing between Alla and Alsace stations. ==Ecology and conservation==

Pollution Storm water and dry-weather urban runoff, both conveyed by storm drains, are the primary sources of pollution in the riverine coastal estuary. Since Ballona drains about of surface area and thousands of street gutters, freeway runoffs, and industrial overflows, its highly toxic waters constitute the most serious source of pollution for Santa Monica Bay. "A new city sewer line in the 1980s alleviated some, but not all, of the problem." The urbanization of the watershed, and associated with it the pollution of urban runoff and stormwater, has degraded the water quality in Ballona Creek and its estuary. Ballona Creek is listed by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board impaired for fecal coliform, heavy metals, and pesticides. The litter flows into the creek require constant cleanup by the County Department of Public Works and volunteer teams. Fifty bags of litter, including diapers, syringes, and a car bumper, were removed from Ballona Creek on Coastal Cleanup Day in 1988. Two abandoned live kittens along with of dumped garbage were removed in 2002. Nets and booms strung across the end of the creek attempt to catch as much litter as possible before it enters Santa Monica Bay. Another observer described the general state of the creek in 2021: Trash Interceptor LA County Public Works deployed an Interceptor Original, an automated solar-powered system made by the Dutch nonprofit The Ocean Cleanup, near the mouth of the creek in October 2022. This is the first Interceptor Original installed in the United States, and the second of the third-generation Interceptor Original to be deployed globally. Until the system was put into place, it was docked with the United States Coast Guard in Long Beach, California. One boom on the device was damaged in the 2022–2023 storms, but the main unit was not damaged. After completing its two-year pilot program in October 2024, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to permanently install the trash interceptor in the creek. During those two years, the system captured nearly 124 tons of total material, twice the anticipated amount. It underwent maintenance and received upgrades to its solar panels and batteries before being reinstalled in time for the 2024 winter storm season. Habitat The watershed as a whole, which stretches from the Skirball Center to Griffith Park (south of the SM Mountains ridgeline) down past Echo Park to south Los Angeles, then back past the Baldwin Hills, over to the coast between Ocean Park and Playa Del Rey, supports an estimated 3,000 species of flora, fauna, and fungi. All told, the Ballona watershed hosts over 300 bird species, 7 amphibians, 30 kinds of reptiles, almost 40 mammals, more than 200 kinds of fungi (including lichens), more than 100 arachnids, and at least 1,000 insects. As far as the creek proper, the best birding opportunities are usually west of Lincoln Boulevard. Urban coyotes and a small population of venomous southern Pacific rattlesnakes live alongside the creek; visitors should exercise due caution to protect both the wildlife and themselves. According to a 2003 assessment, "Less than one percent of the plant cover observed along the Ballona Creek could be classified as native species." Bottlenose dolphins, harbor seals, and California sea lions are occasionally spotted downstream. In 1953, a sea lion made it upstream before it got bogged down; the lost pinniped was lassoed by rescuers and returned to the Pacific. ==History==

A reported Tongva-language (Takic subgroup of Uto-Aztecan) placename for the Ballona estuary and wetlands was Pwinukipar, meaning "it is filled with water". An alternative historic Spanish-language name for the creek reported in the GNIS is Sanjón de Agua con Alisos, which roughly translates to “water ditch with sycamores”. (Aliso is the North American Spanish language word for Platanus racemosa, or Western sycamore, a landmark water-loving, river-bank tree species native to the area. Watercourses or irrigation channels called zanja, zanjón, or sanjon are noted throughout southern California and the American Southwest generally.) Ballona Creek was a picturesque natural waterway fed by runoff. The creek collected water from ciénegas and rain. Its banks were lined with sycamores, willows, tules, and other trees. This natural bounty attracted the earliest known human inhabitants of the region, the Gabrieliño-Tongva Indians, the indigenous people of the Los Angeles region. For at least 3,000 years, the pre-Contact Tongva lived in the area encompassing the Ballona Creek floodplain and the Westchester Bluffs. These indigenous peoples left a large burial ground near the region along the southwest corner of the Ballona Wetlands near the village of Guashna, alternatively spelled Washna. At the time of Spanish settlement, Ballona Creek was a distributary of the Los Angeles River. However, the flood of 1825 changed the course of the Los Angeles River, and Ballona Creek became a distinct waterway. Around 1820, a mestizo rancher named Augustine Machado claimed a Mexican land grant that stretched from modern-day Culver City to Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica, California. Ballona Creek and Lagoon are named for the Ballona or Paseo de las Carretas ("wagon pass") land grant, dated November 27, 1839. The Machado and Talamantes families, co-grantees of the rancho, heralded from Baiona in northern Spain. In the 1840s, Francisco Higuera's adobe was "close enough to La Ballona Creek for Francisco's nine children to swim in the clear waters of the stream with its fine sandy bottom." In 1886, a California state report described Ballona and Centinela creeks: Around 1890, the renowned Machado ranch stables were located "a few hundred feet across the Ballona bridge on Overland Avenue." A 1912 advertisement for homes in the “Washington Park subdivision” along the creek said, “Ballona Creek is a swift-running little stream, fed by springs, and carrying plenty of water all the year. It divides in Washington Park, making a picturesque little island.” In addition to other festivities organized by real-estate brokers to drum sales in the new development, “A free luncheon with hot coffee was served on Ballona Island, the wooded island in Ballona Creek.” The ranch land along the creek was put into agricultural use alongside new small towns such as Venice (est. 1905) and Culver City (est. 1917). In 1928, one writer observed, “Gradually Rancho La Ballona began to develop and people began to build. The ranches were subdivided until Rancho la Ballona became a rich valley of beautiful homes with people coming from every State until it reaches the portions of today.” Deadly floods in 1934 led officials to temporarily close “small wooden bridges spanning Ballona Creek” to limit potential danger to civilians. The crossings were at Burnside Avenue, Redondo Boulevard, Thurman Avenue, and Venice Boulevard. Much of the above-ground section of the creek was lined with concrete as part of the flood-control project undertaken by the United States Army Corps of Engineers between 1935 and 1939. A contract was awarded in 1946 to extend the stone jetties an additional “to deflect ocean currents to prevent beach erosion.” The tributaries were channelized in the 1950s. Centinela Creek’s course was set in parallel to the route of Interstate 405 and the then-forthcoming Marina Freeway. The channelization of the creek is part of the larger human reorganization of southern California hydrology, “some of the oldest and most extensive water redistribution projects in the United States.” When the Baldwin Hills Dam broke 1963, the Ballona Creek Channel carried the flood of water and debris safely to the sea. ==Recreation==

The Ballona Creek Bike Path, which extends almost from National Boulevard in Culver City to Marina Del Rey, is a popular fitness track. Running along a combination of existing flood-control service roadways and purpose-built paths, it is a fully grade-separated trail, permitting cyclists to ride the entire length without signals or road crossings. However, the path is closed during major rainstorms, as portions running beneath bridges are often fully submerged when water levels are high. More than 30 species of fish are present in the Ballona Del Rey harbor and Ballona estuary. The Los Angeles Department of Beaches and Harbors permits licensed fishing at the north and south jetties; licenses can be purchased at nearby shops (West Marine, Marina Del Rey Sportfishing or Del Rey Landing). The Ballona Creek jetty is “a good spot for kelp bass, sand bass, and mackerel.” Due to the contaminated nature of the creek ecosystem, warnings are often posted of species of fish which are unsafe for human consumption. In 1950, an upstream reservoir was being drained by Los Angeles, and “Bass and blue gill, stocked in the reservoir, ran down storm drains and into Ballona Creek.” The Culver City Chamber of Commerce and Hughes Aircraft Rod & Gun Club erected a temporary dam to trap the fish and threw a fishing contest for local kids. (No adults allowed.) ==In popular culture==

The Little Rascals of Hal Roach’s Our Gang used Ballona Creek as a filming location for shorts like “Fish Hooky” (1933). In the 1997 movie Volcano, Mike Roark (Tommy Lee Jones) destroys a 20-story apartment building in a controlled demolition in order to divert a flowing river of lava into Ballona Creek and thus into the Pacific Ocean. ==Gallery==

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