Ballona Creek
Ballona Creek (pronunciation: "Bah-yo-nuh" or "Buy-yo-nah") 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 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.
| Ballona Creek Río de La Ballona | |
|---|---|
Ballona Creek at sunrise | |
Ballona watershed | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Region | Los Angeles County |
| Cities | Los Angeles, Culver City |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Los Angeles, California |
| • coordinates | 34°02′39″N 118°21′12″W |
| • elevation | 110 ft (34 m) |
| Mouth | |
• location | Playa del Rey - Venice, Los Angeles |
• coordinates | 33°57′37″N 118°27′33″W |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Centinela Creek (south) |
| • right | Sepulveda Creek (north) |
Before colonization, the Tongva village of Guashna located at the mouth of the creek. Ballona Creek and neighboring Ballona Wetlands remain 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."