Friends of Ballona Wetlands Reaches Out to the Neighborhood

Above: Rendering of a Restored Ballona Wetlands

Friends of Ballona Wetlands, the local nonprofit environmental group credited with saving the Ballona Wetlands from development, is distributing information to area households on the planned Ballona Wetlands Restoration Project. On behalf of the Wetlands Restoration Principles Coalition, the Friends have mailed an information card about the Project to every Playa Del Rey residence, and hope to expand mailing to other Marina Del Rey area neighborhoods that stand to benefit from the planned Ballona Wetlands Restoration Project.

The Coalition (see members below) was formed several years ago by Friends of Ballona Wetlands, Heal the Bay, Surfrider Foundation and many other trustworthy environmental organizations to champion the state's proposed 600-acre restoration of the degraded Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve. Half of the Reserve was buried under fill dirt when Marina Del Rey and the 90 Freeway were constructed in the 1950s and 60s. The proposed Project would dig out most of the weedy dirt fill, replacing it with blue water tidal wetlands, green marshes, walking trails and bike paths. The fill dirt would be reused to build elevated multi-purpose berms around the Reserve perimeter, which would support upland habitat, walking trails, bike paths and general public access, and protect low lying areas of Playa Del Rey from high tide flooding. Presently, mechanical gates provide that flood protection, but those gates also prevent incoming tides from nourishing existing, parched wetlands south of Ballona Creek.

The information card explains how vital earth-moving is to Project success. Mechanized excavation and grading has been used to successfully restore hundreds of wetlands statewide, most recently in our area at Malibu Lagoon (photo below), and would ensure that Ballona is restored rapidly. Each day restoration is delayed, the existing Ballona habitat becomes increasingly degraded, so time is of the essence.

You can help Friends of Ballona Wetlands and its Coalition partners distribute this vital information to other area neighborhoods by contributing to the organization, or just by volunteering your time. Print a copy and share it with your neighbors! See more information at ballonafriends.org.

Enjoy your Ballona Wetlands!