Restoration Plan to Help Revive Ballona Lagoon

It is an ecological haven teeming with wildlife. Birds migrating south from Canada feed in its rich waters. Schools of halibut swim near banks where pickleweed and other plants sway in the breeze.

But it also is a haven facing trouble. Garbage surfaces in its muddy shoals at low tide, the result of urban growth around its borders. And the banks that protect the waters below are eroding, choking the waterway with sediment.

Now help is on the way for Ballona Lagoon in Venice, one of the few remaining tidal wetlands in Southern California. The California Coastal Commission earlier this month gave initial approval to a plan that will help restore the 16-acre wetland by bringing back native vegetation and creating new habitats for fish and birds.

Environmentalists praise the restoration as an important step toward preserving a vital natural resource.

*

“In Southern California, every square inch of wetland is important,” said Joy Zedler, a wetlands expert and biology professor at San Diego State University. “The organisms [and wildlife] that live in the Ballona Lagoon are part of our ecological heritage.”

The restoration calls for several measures, including a plan to improve the quality of the water.

A six-foot-deep pool will be dredged at the mouth of the lagoon, where it meets the Marina del Rey entrance channel, to allow more water to flush the system and drain contaminants at low tides. The pool also will provide more space for halibut, topsmelt and other fish to mature.

Other changes call for an expanded island at the north end of the lagoon for birds to nest, and the addition of native plants to help protect lagoon banks.

*

The primary supporters of the plan--the nonprofit Ballona Lagoon Marine Preserve, the California Coastal Conservancy and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter--have been pushing to restore the lagoon for nearly a decade.

The Coastal Conservancy already has committed $600,000, and the marine preserve group has secured another $100,000 in county bond funds for the project, which could cost nearly $1 million.

Preservation plans also are in the works for the nearby Ballona Wetlands, which lie southeast of the lagoon. Maguire Thomas Partners has agreed to restore 285 acres as part of its plan to build the DreamWorks movie studio and other projects in the massive development known as Playa Vista. Maguire Thomas expects to begin restoring a portion later this year, but the majority of the project will take at least two years to get under way as the developer acquires the necessary approvals.

More than 90% of Southern California’s wetlands have been lost, leaving fewer than 30 wetlands in the region. The site of Marina del Rey once belonged to a vast swath of wetlands stretching north to Venice until it was dredged for the boat harbor in the 1950s.

*

While the lagoon has remained intact, development has spread to its edges, where high-priced homes sit just feet from the banks.

Environmentalists say the development has produced damaging results: Runoff from storm drains has carved gullies along the banks in several locations while depositing petroleum and other pollutants in the water. Increasing numbers of visitors and dogs have trampled the banks. And used tires, soda cans and other debris have been dumped in the water.

“I think some people just don’t get it. They think it’s a swamp,” said Iylene Weiss, president of the Ballona Lagoon Marine Preserve. “It must be a lack of knowledge or understanding, or maybe it’s just ignorance.”

Despite the problems, the lagoon has managed to sustain a varied collection of plant and animal life, including such creatures as horn snails, fiddler crabs and sea anemones.

The waterway also is a critical habitat for many types of fish, including the California halibut, which spawns in nearby ocean waters but makes its way to the lagoon for the first two years of life.

More than 30 species of migratory birds also stop to feed on shrimp and other foods. Among the birds is the California least tern, an endangered species that forages for topsmelt at the lagoon and nests at nearby Venice beach through spring and summer.

“We call it the busiest little wetland in Southern California,” said Reed Holderman, resource enhancement manager for the California Coastal Conservancy. “Every time I go there, I am amazed at the variety and numbers of birds that visit and stay in the lagoon. It’s phenomenal that such a little place could attract so much wildlife.”

Architects of the restoration plan hope that work on the lagoon will begin in the next year. But first, several issues need to be resolved.

Los Angeles officials must finalize purchase of about two-thirds of the lagoon that is privately owned.

The Coastal Conservancy and the Coastal Commission also must give final approval to some elements of the restoration project--including the removal of a 50-year-old concrete oil platform. The approval process could take several months to complete.

Meanwhile, Galanter is searching for additional funding to pay the estimated $1-million bill for the entire project. Some of the extra money could come from a city fund earmarked for projects in the Venice area, she said.

*

And the plan’s architects have yet to decide who will maintain the lagoon once it is restored--for example, re-dredging the deep pool if it fills up with sediments--and how to pay for the work, estimated at $20,000 to $30,000 annually.

After years of planning, project supporters are eager to get the restoration under way.

“Staying the course eventually pays off,” said Weiss, whose group will monitor progress of the restoration for the first five years. “We’ve saved a wetland.”