Ballona Creek Greenway Projects

Situated in Los Angeles County, the Ballona Creek watershed drains approximately 130 square miles of highly urbanized terrain from downtown Los Angeles west to the Pacific Ocean at Playa del Rey. Historically a perennial stream, today Ballona Creek is an entirely engineered channel. Half of its length is a buried culvert, the other half is an open concrete channel. The Ballona Creek Greenway Plan began in 2006 as a project of the Ballona Creek Watershed Task Force. Led by the watershed coordinator, stakeholders walked and made detailed observations along Ballona Creek Channel. The group engaged in design charrettes to envision solutions that created access, habitat, aesthetic and water quality benefits. The Plan summarized these charettes by site and project concepts. Five sites located along four reaches of the creek also demonstrated the application of design concepts including urban forestry, biotreatment, complete streets, green building, and channel naturalization. The Plan was completed in January 2011. This document details the Ballona Creek Greenway Projects, the next phase of planning and design for Ballona Creek following the Ballona Creek Greenway Plan.