BRINGING BACK BALLONA

After a quarter century of the community holding off development in Ballona, the State of California, under Governor Gray Davis, acquired the wetlands in 2003. Soon afterwards, it became the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve (the Reserve). The land is now permanently protected from development. California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is the lead agency for the planning, implementation, and management of the restoration of the Reserve.

In 2017, CDFW and US Army Corps of Engineers released plans for restoration through a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR). Thousands of comments were submitted in response. In December 2019, CDFW responded to these comments in the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR). In December 2020, the State selected Alternative 1 and approved the final restoration plans. Restoration updates and timeline can be found on CDFW’s Ballona Wetlands Restoration Project Webpage.

Friends of Ballona Wetlands is a founding member of the Wetland Restoration Principles Coalition, which developed the 9 Restoration Principles to maximize every opportunity for comprehensively and scientifically restoring degraded wetlands. A subset of this group, the Steering Committee, has been working diligently to Bring Back Ballona.

Five members of the Steering Committee– Friends of Ballona Wetlands, Heal the Bay, Los Angeles Waterkeeper, The Trust for Public Land, and The Surfrider Foundation– crafted a letter in support of a prompt, robust and science-based restoration. We invite all interested organizations and individuals to read the letter and sign on to strengthen our advocacy.

Read & Sign Letter of Support

Restore Ballona Storymap