Ballona Wetlands: State Opens Public EIR Comment Period

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife published a Notice of Preparation (NOP) for the Ballona Wetlands Restoration Project on October 24. The NOP is the legally required notice to the public of the agency’s intent to prepare or revise a project Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

The NOP asks the public to comment on the agency’s proposed scope of a Revised EIR (REIR) for the Ballona Wetlands Restoration Project. The public has until 5 PM on November 27 to submit comments by mail or email. The NOP may be accessed here, and provides information on joining a virtual public informational meeting the evening of November 7.

Owing to several lawsuits filed by activists, the Superior Court ordered CDFW to fix two technical sections of its EIR; (1) the analysis of flood impacts and (2) clarifying language regarding restoration success measures. CDFW completed the computer modeling for the flood analysis and must now prepare a REIR, explaining their analysis and requesting public and agency review and comment.

Above: Friends of Ballona Wetlands’ information brochure on the restoration project.

In the notice, CDFW proposes only to revise the portions of the original EIR related to the two areas mentioned above. All other aspects of the 1000-page EIR were upheld by the court, and CDFW previously stated its intent to correct the document to the court’s satisfaction and move the restoration project forward. Activists have appealed the court ruling (see “When the Winners are Really the Losers“).

Above: Among other enhancements, the state proposes to dig out the fill dirt from this 200-acre expanse south of Fiji Way and create tidal wetlands habitat in its place.

Above: The southern half of the Ballona Wetlands will be enhanced by removing old roads and invasive plants, and by allowing the ocean tides to reach tidal wetlands isolated by the obsolete concrete Ballona Creek channel bank. Modern, vegetated levees, topped with walking trails, will replace about 1500 feet of the concrete channel bank.

The Restoration Project is supported by Heal the Bay, Surfrider Foundation, Friends of Ballona Wetlands and many other regional environmental organizations.

Enjoy your Ballona Wetlands!

Author’s note of affiliations:

Dr. David W. Kay served on the Board of Directors of the non-profit Friends of Ballona Wetlands from 2007 until 2015, and served as Board President in 2012-13. He presently serves on the Board of Ballona Discovery Park in Playa Vista.

From 1984 to 2022, David was employed by Southern California Edison Company, exclusively in the company’s environmental services organizations. His many responsibilities included restoration of the 440-acre San Dieguito Wetlands near Del Mar. He retired in 2022 as Senior Manager for Project Environmental Licensing at the company.

David earned bachelor and masters degrees in biology and a doctorate in environmental science.

David is a staunch advocate for the state of California’s plans to restore the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve.

See Dr. Kay’s Patch contributor profile here.