Before colonization, theTongva village ofGuashna was located at the mouth of the creek.[6][7] Ballona Creek and neighboringBallona Wetlands remain a prime bird-watching spot for waterfowl, shorebirds, warblers, and birds of prey. In 1982, film criticRichard von Busack, a native of Culver City, described the channelized creek as "a cement drainage ditch indistinguishable in size and content from theLove Canal."[8]
The Ballona Creek watershed totals about 130 square miles (340 square kilometers). According to a 1948 report in the VeniceEvening Vanguard, "The total area drained by Ballona Creek consists of 86 square miles (220 km2) square miles of coastal plain and 74 square miles (190 km2) of foothills and plain range from sea level to 250 feet (76 m) and in the mountains from 250 feet (76 m) to 1,550 feet (470 m). The average gradient of the valley floor is about 20 feet per mile (3.8 m/km) and that of the canyon channels is about 200 feet per mile (38 m/km). The longest distance at any given time taken by the water in this drainage system is 17 miles (27 km)."[9] 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 ofciénegas and lakes that stretched from theHollywood Hills to theBaldwin Hills.[4]
The major tributaries to the Ballona Creek andestuary includeCentinela Creek channel,Sepulveda Creek channel, andBenedict Canyon channel; most of the creek's natural minor tributaries have been destroyed by development or paved over and flow into Ballona Creek as a network of undergroundstorm drains.
Centinela Creek, mapped in 1866Centinela Creek, photographed from Mesmer Avenue Community Garden in 2024
Ballona Creek watershed'sclimate can be characterized asMediterranean with average annual rainfall of about 409 millimeters (16 inches).[10] Land use in the watershed is 64% residential, 17% open space, 8% commercial, and 4% industrial.[5] The flow rate in the creek varies considerably, from a trickle flow of about 14 cubic feet (0.40 cubic metres) per second during dry weather to 71,400 cu ft (2,020 m3) per second during a 50-year storm event.[5] Note: In Los Angeles County, the "water year" is measured beginning October 1 continuing until the next September 30, rather than by calendar year.[11]
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 totidal influence.[10][12]
Brush Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, about 2 miles (3.2 km) long, begins in what everyone callsBronson Canyon, roughly between theHollywood Reservoir andMount Hollywood,[13][14] travels south, passes underWilshire Country Club,[15] enters the Arroyo de los Jardines,[16] (also known as Longwood Stream and El Río del Jardín de las Flores) through theBrookside neighborhood of Hancock Park[17]
Arroyo de la Sacatela –Shakespeare Bridge inFranklin Hills–Los Feliz was built to cross this watercourse, which fedBimini Slough in what is now Koreatown;[18] infrastructure built 1929 drained a 4,200-acre (6.6 sq mi) area, which among other things permitted development of land belowSanta Monica Boulevard between Mariposa and Kenmore[19]
Nichols Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long, draining a small area in the eastern part of the Santa Monica Mountains and discharging southward into Ballona Creek through La Brea Rancho[22]
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 nearWilshire Boulevard andLa 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."[23]
Dry Canyon Creek (Arroyo Seco?) – an intermittent stream, about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) long, draining a small area in the Santa Monica Mountains and flowing southeastward toSan Jose de Buenos Ayres Rancho (vicinity ofWestwood/Holmby Hills)[24]
Benedict Canyon Channel – constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers[25] in 1961–62[26]
Coldwater Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, 3–4 miles (4.8–6.4 km) 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 drainingFranklin and Higgins canyons.[28]
Higgins Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, about 2 miles (3.2 km) long[29]
Franklin Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, about 3 miles (4.8 km) long, draining a small area in the Santa Monica Mountains and flowing southward to its junction with Coldwater Canyon Creek[30]
Peavine Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) 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[31] – essentially San Ysidro Drive[32]
Sepulveda Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, about 5 miles (8.0 km) long, draining a small area in the Santa Monica Mountains and flowing southeastward toward Ballona Creek; sinks north of theVA inBrentwood[24]
Sawtelle-Westwood Channel, plan in 1934 was a "large conduit from Pico Boulevard to Venice Boulevard and eventually southward to Ballona Channel";[33] construction began 1956[34]
Sepulveda Channel – sometimes called the Mar Vista drain, initial plans in 1927 were for it to begin at Midvale and Pico[35]
Stone Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, about 3 miles (4.8 km) long, draining a small area in the Santa Monica Mountains and flowing southward into Westwood[36] – still accessible onUCLA campus betweenSunset Boulevard and the Anderson School of Management[37]
Brown Canyon Creek – an intermittent stream, about 6.5 miles (10.5 km) long, draining a small area in the Santa Monica Mountains, and flowing east of south to a point nearPalms,[14] where its waters would sink or might feed into Ballona during particularly wet years—creek recentlydaylighted as part of theWestwood Greenway adjacent toWestwood/Rancho Park station[38]
Centinela Creek Channel – ancient waterway, channelized in mid-20th century; rises nearCentinela Park (once the site ofCentinela Springs); surfaces near La Tijera Boulevard,[26] flows northwestward about 4 miles (6.4 km) toMesmer, then follows the route of the90 freeway until it meets Ballona Creek; before channelization and the creation ofMarina del Rey, fed intoBallona Lagoon[39]
Adams Channel – one 1905 article about the city water supply surmised that the original course of theLos Angeles River (back before 1825, when it fed into the Ballona) was roughly along what is now Adams Boulevard.[40] The West Adams storm drain was built in 1925 and started atVermont Avenue[41] – 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".[42]
Many of these run wholly or partially underground in storm drains that empty into the creek.
Ferndell inGriffith Park is one of the streams in the far northeastern reach of the Ballona watershedArroyo de Los Jardines in Hancock ParkBenedict Canyon Creek Channel enters Ballona Creek
Ballona Wetlands, Del Rey Lagoon, Ballona Lagoon, and Oxford Basin are connected to the Ballona estuary throughtide gates.
The Ballona watershed is estimated to have roughly 35% impervious surface, which affects rainwater infiltration and groundwater recharge.[10]
There were at least 41 natural springs mapped in theRío de La Ballona watershed before development.[10] A waterway called Walnut Creek once arose near what is now theL.A. Coliseum atExposition, but it was destroyed by the 1930s flood-control engineering.[45]
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.[10]
Pacific Avenue Bridge (1928)[56] – Now used only by pedestrians and bicycles as part of theLos 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.”[57]
Several of these crossings existed as “small wooden bridges” of unknown age before they were replaced in the 1930s byWPAinfrastructure projects.[58][59] An “old wooden bridge” was in place on Overland before 1928.[60] A 1900 railway map appears to show Ballona Creek crossings at Inglewood, Higuera, and La Cienega, and a crossing betweenAlla andAlsace stations.[61]
Storm water and dry-weather urban runoff, both conveyed bystorm drains, are the primary sources ofpollution in the riverine coastal estuary. Since Ballona drains about 126 square miles (330 km2) 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."[62]
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.[64] Two abandoned live kittens along with 67,000 pounds (30,000 kg) of dumped garbage were removed in 2002.[65] Nets and booms strung across the end of the creek attempt to catch as much litter as possible before it entersSanta Monica Bay.
Above-ground “headwaters” of Ballona tributary Centinela Creek, nearLa Cienega Boulevard (click and zoom to see shopping cart)
Grocery-store carts and trash litter [Ballona Creek], joined by flotillas of foam-plastic cups after rainstorms.[66]
— Jane Engle,Los Angeles Times
Another observer described the general state of the creek in 2021:[67]
What little water there is flows heavy with trash and the rainbow glints of motor oil…Graffiti lines every overpass. Water, flowing from god-knows-where above, leaks yellow-green across the street. Mountains of collected dross mark an impromptu home… This place has a sort of decaying beauty, like the moody ruins of a romanticist oil painting. As the miles roll by nature slowly returns. Brush lines the creek, and I catch a pelican diving into the water mid-flight.
The Ocean Cleanup's Interceptor Original 007, shown at the mouth of Ballona Creek looking northwest
LA County Public Works deployed an Interceptor Original, an automated solar-powered system made by the Dutch nonprofitThe Ocean Cleanup, near the mouth of the creek in October 2022.[68] This is the first Interceptor Original installed in the United States, and the second of the third-generation Interceptor Original to be deployed globally.[69] Until the system was put into place, it was docked with theUnited States Coast Guard inLong Beach, California.[70][71] One boom on the device was damaged in the2022–2023 storms, but the main unit was not damaged.[72]
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.[73][74]
The watershed as a whole, which stretches from theSkirball Center toGriffith Park (south of the SM Mountains ridgeline) down pastEcho Park tosouth Los Angeles, then back past theBaldwin Hills, over to the coast betweenOcean Park andPlaya Del Rey, supports an estimated 3,000 species of flora, fauna, and fungi.[75] 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.[75]
The creek and wetlands are specifically recognized as an "Important Birding Area" by theAudubon Society.[76] As far as the creek proper, the best birding opportunities are usually west ofLincoln Boulevard.[77]Urban coyotes[78] and a small population of venomoussouthern Pacific rattlesnakes[79] 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."[80]
Vegetation grows creekside between Centinela and McConnell Avenues[81]
Bottlenose dolphins,harbor seals, andCalifornia sea lions are occasionally spotted downstream.[82][83] In 1953, a 350-pound (160 kg) sea lion made it 3.5 miles (5.6 km) upstream before it got bogged down; the lost pinniped was lassoed by rescuers and returned to the Pacific.[84]
A reportedTongva-language (Takic subgroup ofUto-Aztecan) placename for the Ballona estuary and wetlands wasPwinukipar, meaning "it is filled with water".[85] An alternative historic Spanish-language name for the creek reported in theGNIS isSanjón de Agua con Alisos, which roughly translates to “water ditch with sycamores”.[86] (Aliso is theNorth American Spanish language word forPlatanus racemosa, or Western sycamore, a landmarkwater-loving, river-bank tree species native to the area.[87] Watercourses or irrigation channels calledzanja,zanjón, or sanjon are noted throughoutsouthern California and the American Southwest generally.)[88]
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.[89] For at least 3,000 years, thepre-Contact Tongva lived in the area encompassing the Ballona Creek floodplain and the Westchester Bluffs.[90][91] These indigenous peoples left a large burial ground near the region along the southwest corner of the Ballona Wetlands near the village ofGuashna, alternatively spelled Washna.[91] The records of theSan Gabriel Mission record recruitment of Tongva from a group of settlements named Washna (also referred to in some historical and scholarly sources as Saa’angna) near the mouth of Ballona Creek. Before the Spanish conquest, Washna was probably the most important Native American center for trade between the mainland and Catalina Island.[91]
The SpanishPortolá expedition camped at the headwaters of Ballona on August 3, 1769.[92]
At the time of Spanish settlement, Ballona Creek was adistributary of theLos Angeles River. However, the flood of 1825 changed the course of the Los Angeles River, and Ballona Creek became a distinct waterway.
Creek and bluffs visible in originaldiseño for the rancho
Around 1820, amestizo rancher named Augustine Machado claimed a 14,000-acre (57 km2)Mexican land grant that stretched from modern-day Culver City toPico Boulevard in Santa Monica, California. Ballona Creek and Lagoon are named for the Ballona orPaseo de las Carretas ("wagon pass") land grant, dated November 27, 1839. The Machado and Talamantes families, co-grantees of the rancho, heralded fromBaiona in northern Spain.[93][94]
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."[4]
From 1861 to 1862, the creek was home to aU.S. Army staging ground. Several soldiers posted to Camp Latham described the local vistas, including "Charley" in May 1862 in theTrinity Journal:[95]
After a walk of seven hours the main body of the detachment reached Camp Latham, and no one who has ever been here can deny but that it is the finest-situated camp and drill ground in the State. The camp is situated on an eminence, one hundred yards from which flows a beautiful stream of sparkling water, about the size of mainWeaver Creek, lined with a dense grove ofsycamores, and in the immediate vicinity of camp is a pretty grove ofwillows, planted tastefully by an old Spaniard, and which is beginning to form a pleasant retreat for the inhabitants of the neighborhood, and the troops at this point.
In 1886, a California state report described Ballona and Centinela creeks:[96]
Out from the central springs of the upper belt—on ranchos La Brea and Rodeo de las Aguas—Ballona gathers its upper perennial waters, leads them south against the base of the Centinela hills. Here, reinforced by a little stream from the east, draining the springs of the ranchos La Cienega and Paso de la Tejera, it turns west and southwest, parallel with the hill’s footing, into the Ballona flats and the sea five to six miles away.
Around 1890, the renowned Machado ranch stables were located "a few hundred feet across the Ballona bridge on Overland Avenue."[58]
Duck hunting on the Ballona lowlands, 1890
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.”[97] 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.”[98]
The ranch land along the creek was put into agricultural use alongside new small towns such asVenice (est. 1905) andCulver 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.”[58]
Photos of a flooded Jefferson Boulevard appeared in the newspaper after a major storm in December 1931; authorities told reporters that Ballona Creek’s peak flow “more than 7000 second feet” went through the channel.[99] 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.[59]
In 1931, the Los Angeles County Flood Control District had proposed permanent improvement of the Ballona Channel and included it in its county-wide flood control program. ¶ Subsequently, under the direction of Engineer C.H. Howell, a plan for La Ballona’s improvement was submitted to the federal government. ¶ Major Theodore Wyman Jr. sent his hundreds of workers to straighten and widen the crooked channel that since prehistoric times had been unable to hold the flood waters of rainy seasons that created lagoons and created vast swamp areas. ¶ They not only straightened, widened and deepened the meandering river, they put it in slope-sided, rock-lined strait-jacket. Also they built three bridges, with the aid of a federal grant of $800,000. ¶ The result has been increased flood protection to a wide area and the reclaiming of swamp land. In addition there has been created an estuary, formed by the flow of ocean tides, extending two miles inland from the channel mouth.[4]
Two laborers, Tony Rizzo, a 44-year-old father of six, and Barney Porres, 24, were killed by a mudslide in the channel in 1937. Two other men were injured. A coroner’s jury found that “lack of proper precautions” by flood-control management team were to blame.[102]
A contract was awarded in 1946 to extend the stone jetties an additional 550 feet (170 m) “to deflect ocean currents to prevent beach erosion.”[103]
The tributaries werechannelized in the 1950s.[10] Centinela Creek’s course was set in parallel to the route ofInterstate 405 and the then-forthcomingMarina Freeway. The channelization of the creek is part of the larger human reorganization ofsouthern Californiahydrology, “some of the oldest and most extensive water redistribution projects in the United States.”[10]
When theBaldwin Hills Dam broke 1963, the Ballona Creek Channel carried the flood of water and debris safely to the sea.
Multilingual sign warning of five species of contaminated fish in Ballona Creek
TheBallona Creek Bike Path, which extends almost 7 miles (11 km) 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.[83] The Ballona Wetlands Land Trust offers a free, full-color, online booklet “A Guide to Fish Found in the Lower Ballona Creek and the Ballona Wetlands”.[104] TheLos 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).[105][106] The Ballona Creek jetty is “a good spot forkelp bass,sand bass, andmackerel.”[107] 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 andblue gill, stocked in the reservoir, ran down storm drains and into Ballona Creek.” The Culver City Chamber of Commerce andHughes Aircraft Rod & Gun Club erected a temporary dam to trap the fish and threw a fishing contest for local kids. (No adults allowed.)[108]
In the 1997 movieVolcano, 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.
^Tom LaBonge (November 11, 2020).Jane Gilman Discusses Inside Hancock Park. Chevalier Books. Event occurs at 14:48.And also you have the Wilshire Country Club which has a creek that goes through it that goes from the Bronson Caves... that little creek goes all the way through that underground and comes through and goes through Brookside and then ends up in Ballona Creek and out in the Marina.
^Grant, Roth (April 14, 1929)."City Pushes Campaign on Storm Drains".The Los Angeles Times. Map illustration drawn by Phil Leonard. p. 75. RetrievedMarch 31, 2024.
^Ballona Watershed Management Task Force. "3".Ballona Watershed Management Plan(PDF). LA County Watershed Management Plan. p. 55.Archived(PDF) from the original on January 19, 2022. RetrievedJuly 13, 2022.
^Dukesherer, David J. (2010).LAX California : an early history of the region : Westchester, Playa Vista, Inglewood & Playa del Rey, (and environs). Charleston, South Carolina: Cental Historical Group Publishers. p. 68.ISBN9781453772867.OCLC695155443.
^Culver City Historical Society (Summer 2004)."New Ballona Creek Pedestrian Bridge"(PDF).Culver Historical Highlights.25 (3): 5.Archived(PDF) from the original on October 1, 2020. RetrievedJuly 19, 2022.
^"Report - HPLA".historicplacesla.org.Archived from the original on September 14, 2022. RetrievedAugust 17, 2022.
^Ferderber, Skip, Allan, Robert J. “BEACHFRONT PATH POPULAR: Bikes Take to the Seacoast,” Los Angeles Times, 1974-04-25, p. WS1.
^abcGuzman, N.S. (March 4, 1928). "RANCHO DAYS OF PAST RECALLED: Culver City Neighborhood Pioneers' Playground, Excursions to Santa Monica Popular in 1876, Historic Fifty-Mile Horse Race Retold".Los Angeles Times. pp. B5.
^ab“Torrential Rains Leave Seven Dead; $150,000 Damage: One Missing and Girl Fights for Life; Hundreds Abandon Homes and New Arroyo Floods Feared,”Los Angeles Times, 1934-10-19, p. 1.
^“Touring Information,”San Pedro Daily News, Volume XXV, Number 293, 14 January 1928, page 7.
^Pitt, Leonard; Pitt, Dale (1997).Los Angeles A to Z: An Encyclopedia of the City and County. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press. pp. 36,50–51.ISBN0-520-20274-0.
^Ballona Creek Wetlands EPA Report(PDF) (Report). Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board.Archived(PDF) from the original on January 19, 2022. RetrievedJune 13, 2022.
^“Californians Comb Beaches in Coastal Cleanup,”California Aggie, Volume 107, Number 177, 3 October 1988, p. 6.
^Higgins, Lila M. (2019).Wild LA : explore the amazing nature in and around Los Angeles. Gregory B. Pauly, Jason G. Goldman, Charles Hood, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Portland, Oregon.ISBN978-1-60469-710-0.OCLC1065819118.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Castillo, E. D. (1994). "Gender status decline, resistance, and accommodation among female neophytes in the missions of California: A San Gabriel case study". American Indian Culture and Research Journal. 18 (1): 67–93. Retrieved 18 August 2013.http://aisc.metapress.com/content/u861u35618852412/Archived 2013-08-20 atarchive.today
^"TEN-YEARS' RAIN RECORD IN LOS ANGELES BROKEN: Flood in Long Beach Drives 1500 From Their Homes and Boats Transport School Children".Los Angeles Times. December 29, 1931. p. 1.
^Coastal Conservancy Report(PDF) (Report). July 16, 2007. p. 2.Archived(PDF) from the original on December 20, 2011. RetrievedOctober 4, 2011.
^"Short History".Ballona Creek Renaissance.Archived from the original on July 6, 2022. RetrievedJuly 6, 2022.
I-10 -Santa Monica Freeway (1964)
I-405 - San Diego Freeway (1960)
SR 90 - Marina Freeway (1972)
SR 1 -Lincoln Boulevard (1937)[47]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
