Ballona Wetlands: Coastal Commission Approves Ballona Early Permits

With successive unanimous 8-0 votes, the California Coastal Commission approved two permits on December 15, allowing early work to proceed on the Ballona Wetlands Restoration Project. Opponents of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s project, who are litigating the project Environmental Impact Report (EIR), failed to convince a single Coastal Commissioner to pause the requested permits.

The Coastal Commission authorized the local non-profit group, Friends of Ballona Wetlands, to continue their 40-year effort to remove non-native, invasive vegetation from the rare Ballona Dunes, replacing the invaders with native plants supporting endangered species. The endangered El Segundo Blue Butterfly has returned to the Ballona Dunes because of the Friends’ longstanding work there, planting native buckwheat on which the Blue Butterfly depends.

Above: A female endangered El Segundo Blue Butterfly deposits her eggs on a coastal buckwheat flower, the shrub planted by Friends of Ballona Wetlands volunteers. Photo by Patrick Tyrrell.

The restoration permit, co-owned by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), authorizes Friends to remove dozens of non-native bushes and trees in the southern Ballona Wetlands and plant native species in their place. Tree stumps will be left in place to minimize impacts of the tree removals, which will occur only outside of bird nesting season, typically October-February.

Above: Friends of Ballona Wetlands volunteers removing non-native weeds from the Dunes area, way back in 2008.

The opponents protested that trees planned to be removed provide critical bird nesting habitat. Experts commented, and Commission biologists agreed that birds simply relocate to nearby trees, which are plentiful around the wetlands’ fringes. Birds using the trees at issue are neither rare nor endangered.

To ensure permit approval, Friends and CDFW agreed to “toss a bone” to opponents by postponing removal of a few shade palm trees that had seemed to galvanize the opponents’ rebel yells. Such concessions are common to Coastal Development Permits. The trees in question will instead be removed several years from now when the sixth phase of CDFW's planned restoration occurs.

The Commission also approved a CDFW permit to core sample soils at various locations within Ballona to support advanced engineering for the coming "Great Park" project. This permit was also opposed by the familiar cadre of intervenors. The plaintiffs currently suing CDFW spoke in opposition to both permits. The litigants’ cases will be heard May 9,2023 by Judge James G. Chalfant in Los Angeles Superior Court, Division 85, and should be decided shortly thereafter.

The Coastal Commission hearing video recording may be viewed at https://cal-span.org/meeting/c.... Fast forward the video to approximately 6hr:22min:15 sec for the start of the Ballona items.

Friends of Ballona Wetlands are guiding a public tour of the Dunes area this Saturday, December 17, 10-12 AM, at the Gordon’s Market/Alka Water parking lot 303 Culver Blvd. in Playa Del Rey. Come see the restored habitat area.

Enjoy your Ballona Wetlands!

Author’s note on 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.

From 1984-2022, 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.

Dr. Kay is a staunch advocate for the State of California's Ballona Wetlands Restoration Project.

See Dr. Kay's Patch contributor profile here.