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54-540: The basin is a remnant of the historic Ballona Valley ecosystem and one of the last remaining intertidal mud flat habitats in Los Angeles County . Oxford Basin collects urban runoff from a 600-acre (2.4 km) watershed and remediates it in part through the use of bioswales , low-flow storm drain diversions, native landscaping and a circulation berm. Other inputs to the lagoon are groundwater and tidal inflows from Marina del Rey Harbor. Oxford Basin

108-576: A 12-year useful service life. This deadline is 12 years of the CARB mandate and may be delayed if the agency is unable to make the transition within the 2028 timeframe. The agency will not need to increase its fleet size, thanks to the use of service block restructuring if battery range does not grow to meet current service block demands. As of January 2024, the agency is not on track to meet its goal, according to its rollout plan where 10 battery-electric buses were suppsoed to be in regular service by 2023, which

162-510: A 1948 report in the Venice Evening Vanguard , "The total area drained by Ballona Creek consists of 86 square miles (220 km ) square miles of coastal plain and 74 square miles (190 km ) 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

216-510: 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. 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 place name for

270-437: A fleet of largely electric circulator vans (used on its downtown circulator routes, for example 1C1) and support and paratransit vehicles including Nissan Leaf's and electric vans. Culver CityBus has announced intentions to replace its entire fleet with battery-electric buses by 2028, in time for the 100th anniversary of its founding and the 2028 Olympic Games , while avoiding early retirement of its current fleet, assuming

324-463: A prime bird-watching spot for waterfowl, shorebirds, warblers, and birds of prey. In 1982, film critic Richard von Busack , a native of Culver City, described the channelized creek as "a cement drainage ditch indistinguishable in size and content from the Love Canal ." "Ballona Watershed Map" . The Ballona Creek watershed totals about 130 square miles (340 square kilometers). According to

378-486: A small population of venomous southern Pacific rattlesnakes live alongside the creek; exercise due caution to protect both the wildlife and visiting humans. 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,

432-410: A watering hole.” These introduced species were removed to other county parks in 1989 due to complains about noise and odor. Prior to the restoration some considered the basin a “muddy puddle” or a “foul-smelling eyesore.” A 2010 survey of invertebrates at the muddy puddle found “85 terrestrial and marine taxa (two mollusks, eight spiders, 67 insects, and eight other arthropods).” Limited street parking

486-516: 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 Ballona Wetlands Land Trust offers a free, full-color, online booklet “A Guide to Fish Found in

540-551: Is an 8.5-mile (13.7 km) channelized stream in southwestern Los Angeles County, California , United States , that was once a "year-round river lined with sycamores and willows". The urban watercourse begins in the Mid-City neighborhood of Los Angeles, flows through Culver City and Del Rey , and passes the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Preserve , the sailboat harbor Marina del Rey , and

594-588: Is available on Washington Blvd. and at nearby park and beach lots. Transit access includes bus stops serviced by Culver CityBus Line 1 and Big Blue Bus Line 18, as well as Playa Vista ’s summer beach shuttle service. Marina Del Rey also offers a seasonal WaterBus ferry service that stops nearby. L.A. County's coastal bike trail ( Marvin Braude Bike Trail ) passes by the basin, just west of Yvonne B. Burke Park. Ballona Valley Ballona Creek (pronunciation: "Bah-yo-nuh" or "Buy-yo-nah" )

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648-557: Is ringed by a 0.7-mile (1.1 km) nature walk loop that runs parallel to the Coastal Bike Trail on the Oxford Avenue side. Observation decks offer opportunities for wildlife viewing; the lagoon is host to between 50 and 100 species of birds. The Basin is “currently favored” for wading bird roosting and nesting because it “does not have significant human-bird conflicts.” The Oxford Basin enhancement project, under

702-558: The Baldwin Hills . The major tributaries to the Ballona Creek and estuary include Centinela Creek channel, Sepulveda Creek channel and Benedict 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 underground storm drains . Ballona Creek watershed climate can be characterized as Mediterranean with average annual rainfall of about 409 millimeters (16 inches). Land use in

756-594: The Trinity Journal : 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 main Weaver Creek , lined with a dense grove of sycamores , and in

810-690: 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. The records of the San 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

864-525: The "water year" is measured beginning October 1 continuing until the next September 30, rather than by calendar year. 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 . Many of these run wholly or partially underground in storm drains that empty into

918-595: The 1930s by WPA infrastructure projects. An “old wooden bridge” was in place on Overland before 1928. A 1900 railway map appears to show Ballona Creek crossings at Inglewood, Higuera, and La Cienega and a crossing between Alla and Alsace stations. Dry weather urban runoff and storm water, both conveyed by storm drains , are the primary sources of pollution in the riverine coastal estuary. Since Ballona drains about 126 square miles (330 km ) of surface area and thousands of street gutters, freeway runoffs, and industrial overflows, its highly toxic waters constitute

972-436: The 1930s flood-control engineering. A 2011 study determined that as little as two percent of Ballona's water may now come from underground springs, meaning that 98 percent of the creek's flow consists of various forms of runoff throughout the watershed. From northern source to southern mouth (year built in parentheses): Several of these crossings existed as “small wooden bridges” of unknown age before they were replaced in

1026-538: 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. Culver CityBus Culver CityBus is a public transport agency operating in Culver City, California , currently serving Culver City, the unincorporated community of Marina del Rey , and

1080-632: The American Southwest generally.) Ballona Creek was a picturesque natural waterway fed by runoff. The creek collected the water from ciénegas and the rains. 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,

1134-462: The Ballona estuary through tide gates . The Ballona watershed is estimated to have roughly 35 percent impervious surface, which affects rainwater infiltration and groundwater recharge. There were at least 41 natural springs mapped in the Río de La Ballona watershed before development. A waterway called Walnut Creek once arose near what is now the L.A. Coliseum at Exposition but it was destroyed by

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1188-511: The Ballona watershed hosts over 300 bird species, seven 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. The creek and wetlands are specifically recognized as an "Important Birding Area" by the Audubon Society . As far as the creek proper, the best birding opportunities are usually west of Lincoln Boulevard . Urban coyotes and

1242-501: The Culver CityBus provides service to the communities of: Culver CityBus operates 3 daily routes, 3 weekday-only routes, and 2 Monday-Saturday routes within Los Angeles County . Among its 3 weekday-only routes, Culver CityBus operates a Rapid route (Rapid 6). Weekend service is provided on New Year's Day , Memorial Day , Independence Day , Labor Day , Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day . Culver CityBus also maintains

1296-587: The Los Angeles River, and Ballona Creek became a distinct waterway. Around 1820, a mestizo rancher named Augustine Machado claimed a 14,000-acre (57 km ) 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

1350-601: The Lower Ballona Creek and the Ballona Wetlands.” 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

1404-536: 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. 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. A contract

1458-400: The adjacent Los Angeles neighborhoods . Its regular fleet is painted bright green and its rapid fleet primarily a chrome gray, distinguishing it from Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus , orange-colored Metro Local buses, and red-colored Metro Rapid buses, whose coverage areas overlap on Los Angeles 's Westside . In 2023, the system had a ridership of 2,746,900, or about 9,700 per weekday as of

1512-469: 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)." 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 ciénegas and lakes that stretched from the Hollywood Hills to

1566-482: The combined auspices of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works , Los Angeles County Flood Control District and Los Angeles County Department of Beaches & Harbors , was completed in 2016. Improvements included “flooding and runoff improvements…new fencing and signage, observation areas, lighting and a walking path.” Some 3,000 cubic yards of polluted sediment was removed from

1620-543: 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

1674-683: 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 67,000 pounds (30,000 kg) 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 . Grocery-store carts and trash litter [Ballona Creek], joined by flotillas of foam-plastic cups after rainstorms. Another observer described

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1728-587: The creek, and I catch a pelican diving into the water mid-flight. LA County Public Works deployed an Interceptor Original, a solar-powered, automated 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

1782-748: The creek. According to a report from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power , other contributing elements of the contemporary watershed, besides the major tributaries, are Baldwin Hills Park , Del Rey Lagoon Park , Ballona Lagoon Marine Preserve , Grand Canal, the Venice Canals , Ballona Northeast (Area C—State lands), Bluff Creek and Ballona Wetlands , Marina del Rey (including Marina Del Rey Wetland Park ), and Oxford Flood Control Basin . Ballona Wetlands, Del Rey Lagoon, Ballona Lagoon and Oxford Basin are connected to

1836-408: The establishment of site-appropriate plant communities, including coastal sage scrub , coastal salt marsh and willow scrub . “Native vegetation increased from 4.3 acres (17,000 m) to 5.28 acres (21,400 m), a 23 percent gain.” The project cost $ 14.7 million and the improvements have allowed “the utilitarian basin to function more like a public park.” The location where the basin now sits

1890-445: The general state of the creek in 2021: 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

1944-466: The immediate vicinity of camp is a pretty grove of willows , 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: Circa 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

1998-506: The marina.”) In 1963 it was named the Marina Del Rey County Bird Conservation Area thanks in part to advocacy by the Audubon Society . It was hoped that the refuge would attract species like the wood ibis , elegant tern , least tern and tree duck , and be “ideal for the birds due to its tidal action. The rhythm of the tides tells the birds when to eat and otherwise adjust their lives.” Over

2052-600: 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

2106-533: 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. The Spanish Portolá expedition camped at the headwaters of Ballona on August 3, 1769. 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

2160-670: 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. The Ballona 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

2214-550: The portions of today.” 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. 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

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2268-461: 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." From 1861 to 1862 the creek was home to an U.S. Army staging ground. Several soldiers posted to Camp Latham described the local vistas, including "Charley" in May 1862 in

2322-586: The river to undergo maintenance and upgrades, with a plan to reinstall it in time for the 2024 winter storm season. 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

2376-459: The site. New floodgates were installed in improve water circulation. Some 650 existing plants and trees were removed, including non-native eucalyptus used seasonally by nesting birds and resting monarch butterflies . The old vegetation was replaced with 730 native trees and 45,000 native plants, including 200 new milkweed plants (the only food plant consumed by the monarch butterfly caterpillar). The California Native Plant Society assisted in

2430-621: The small beachside community of Playa del Rey before draining into Santa Monica Bay . The Ballona Creek drainage basin carries water from the Santa Monica Mountains on the north, from the Baldwin Hills to the south, and as far as the Harbor Freeway (I-110) to the east. Before colonization, the Tongva village of Guashna located at the mouth of the creek. Ballona Creek and neighboring Ballona Wetlands remain

2484-577: 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. The trash interceptor completed its two year pilot program in October 2024 and was considered a success, capturing nearly 124 tons of total material, 2,738 pounds of that being recyclable material. The system will be removed from

2538-613: The third quarter of 2024. Culver CityBus was founded on 3 March 1928, making it the second oldest municipal bus line in California and the oldest public transit bus system still operating in Los Angeles County. Big Blue Bus was founded on 14 April 1928, the San Francisco Municipal Railway began streetcar service 28 December 1912. Within its service area of around 25.5 square miles,

2592-414: The watershed consists of 64 percent residential, 17 percent open space, eight percent commercial, and four percent industrial. 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 m ) per second (see cubic meters per second ) during a 50-year storm event. Note: In Los Angeles County,

2646-434: 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

2700-411: The years it developed into “a little habitat with an odd assortment of birds and other animals and non-native plants and trees.” A population of abandoned livestock (primarily rabbits, chickens and domestic ducks) lived at so-called “Duck Pond” until the 1980s; “visitors could see a guinea hen sunning itself outside a rabbit warren , a black swan staying cool in the shade and three ducks padding around

2754-464: 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,

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2808-433: Was awarded in 1946 to extend the stone jetties an additional 550 feet (170 m) “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

2862-458: 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.) The Little Rascals of Hal Roach ’s Our Gang used Ballona Creek as a filming location for shorts like “ Fish Hooky ” (1933). In

2916-535: Was originally part of the Ballona Wetlands and after settlement had a stint as farmland. Oxford Basin as we know it today was built in 1959 during the creation of the Marina Del Rey small-boat harbor “on the site of an old municipal dump, to prevent flooding in nearby communities.” (“Several of the streets and properties in the area surrounding Oxford Basin are near or below the high-tide level in

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