Malibu's Ballona Preview

It’s been just two years since the June 2012 groundbreaking on the 31-acre Malibu Lagoon reconstruction. Construction took about six months, revegetation followed, and the renewed habitat has been growing in over the past 18 months. See for yourself how quickly nature recovers, even when bulldozers and backhoes must scrape the land bare to repair the insults from centuries of historical development. If you build it, they will come.

Malibu Lagoon was just the latest coastal wetland restoration project in our state, which has funded over 1800 projects since 1976 at a cost of $1.5 billion. State law and policy mandate the restoration of publicly held coastal and tidelands whenever possible, and for good reason. Besides the public open space, recreation and natural habitat benefits, coastal restoration projects are economic engines for their regions (1).

Oxford basin is next, though tiny compared to Malibu. Imagine Malibu-times-20, and you have a comprehensive Ballona restoration project. The Environmental Impact Report, which will explain and analyze various proposed and preferred alternative plans for the 600-acre Ballona reserve, is supposed to be published in early 2015. It has been delayed by, among other things, the Annenberg sideshow proposed for the easternmost parcel between the Marina Little League fields and the Marina Freeway. The more important parts are the other 200 acres buried under 15 feet of fill dirt that needs to be excavated to restore the tidal wetland that pre-dated Marina construction.

The same people who unsuccessfully opposed Malibu are already opposing Ballona. They fabricate facts and fear to persuade donations in order to protect donors from the boogeyman. That flim-flam isn’t quite the oldest profession on earth, but at least the other one is honest about what the buyer gets for their money. Caveat emptor.

Enjoy your Ballona Wetlands!

www.ballonafriends.org

1. Conathan, M., Buchanan, J., and S. Polefka 2014. The Economic Case for Restoring Coastal Ecosystems. Center for American Progress and OXFAM America