Marina Del Rey

 
"The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it."
Robert Swan, Polar Explorer and Inspirational Speaker
 

BALLONA WATERSHED FLY-OVER IS A BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF A NEW VISION FOR LOS ANGELES(link is external)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EOiBNlfbfQ    10 minutes

Marina del Rey Small Boat Harbor and Recreation Area was chiseled out of 950 acres of Ballona Wetlands located in Venice, California in 1954 by U.S. Congress Public Laws 389 and 780. Law 780 requires reasonable rates with equal access for all.
PROPOSED BOAT CENTRAL 2015_0_size320.pngActivist Action: PROPOSED BOAT CENTRAL Request Hearing US Army Corps of Engineers about Boat Central  in Marina Del Rey Dec2015.pdf  will be 8 stories high, project 92 feet into Boat Basin H, and eliminate free existing parking lot used by bicyclists, fishfisherman, whale watchers, hikers, runners and boaters. Polluted water flowing from Basin H under Fiji Way into the Ballona Wetlands will further compromise the wetlands.
Activist Action: WETLAND MEADOW PARCEL 9U on Via Marina. Send a comment via USPS letter to: Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, 320 W. 4th Street, Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90013, Attn. 401 Certification Unit. Proposed project would reduce wetland size, bring polluted salt water into a fresh water site, create two hotels and an apartment building, in a rare place for herons and other birds.
MDR Map with Large Proposed Projects as of 2015-16_size800.png
Important items to consider:
1. Public Hearings on Fiji Way's Basin H Free Public Parking Lot 52, Parcel FF, Parcel 9U, Pier 44 and Fisherman's Village offer a rare opportunity to publicly define current recreational needs of Los Angeles County. 
2. Public Hearings on the 2016 Local Coastal Plan Amendment offer a once in five years opportunity to identify the Environmental Impacts of pollutants from proposed expansion  so close to the Ballona Wetlands.
3. Los Angeles County spent 2 million dollars of taxpayer money lobbying the California Coastal Commission to Amend the last Local Coastal Plan to change the ESHA (Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area) designation that protected mature trees, Monarch Butterflies and Heron Rookeries. We need to correct this at the Coastal Commission this year.
4. The Ballona Watershed flood plain covers large areas of the Marina. Sea level rise, a tsunami, or a huge storm event could flood the lower Ballona Watershed creating wide-spread property damage, road closures and loss of life. Tsunami warnings are posted in the Marina. 
5. Ownership of these 950 acres of Marina del Rey Land has been contentious. Hotels, condos, apartments, stores, boat slips and yacht clubs are all on long-term land leases of 50-60 years. The County continues to eliminate parking lots / park set asides for development.
6. Some have expired, some have been renewed, and others are in contention.6. Opposition to Proposed Development Projects has grown among residents, recreational boaters, bicyclists, bird watchers, fisherman, walkers, runners and environmentalist.
7. Millions of dollars in public funds were spent to acquire land, dredge the channel, widen our beach 450 feet for 5.5 miles, create a small craft harbor, provide fishing, swimming, recreation and wildlife opportunities for the people of LA. Funding was provided U.S. Congress U.S. Congress, Los Angeles City and Los Angeles County in almost equal parts.
8. U.S. Congress Documents 389 and 780 defined Oxford Lagoon Bird Sanctuary as 41.9 acres. Only 10.7 acres were actually set aside.
9. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredged the Channel and the 12 small craft harbor basins. Funding for continual maintenance of the Channel is appropriated by U.S. Congress.
10. Water sustains all life, without it all living things perish. 90% of all our wetlands in Southern California have been built on or paved over. We have done this at our peril.
11. Over development threatens Via Marina, Fiji Way and Admiralty Way: Wetland Meadow Parcel 9U, Mariners Village old growth trees, cormorants and heron rookery on Via Marina; Dock 52, Parcel FF, and Fisherman's Village on Fiji Way; and, Pier 44 on Admiralty Way.
12. Los Angeles imports around 85% of its water from over 200 miles away. It uses 30% of its state electrical power to deliver this water.

Marina Del Rey Related Material

Wetlands: Just one poorly protected stopover can doom a migrating bird

Submitted on

We have added to our website, for your consideration, a page linking to a scientific publication article, to motivate an understanding to preserve any and all wetlands, whether it's now a stop over point for a migrating bird, or not.

Review Article:
http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-animals/2015/12/just-one-poorly-protec...

Published Article Title:
Protected areas and global conservation of migratory birds

CalEPA Clean Water Act: Section 303(d) List / 305(b) Report Web Section Polluted Water List

Submitted on

The EPA California Branch keeps track of "impaired" water bodies and their pollutants for the purpose of preventing future impairment, and cleaning existing impaired water bodies.

http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/tmdl/integrated2010....

This CalEPA web section has all sorts of data, past reports, maps, lists, and contact data to report local efforts that move us in the wrong direction.

 

Wetlands: EPA Wetlands Report Web Section

Submitted on

http://cfpub.epa.gov/roe/chapter/water/wetlands.cfm

This url last visited on November 20, 2015.

What you will find on this page.  ROE is "Report On The Environment" encompassing yearly statistics on the 'size' of USA's wetlands, as they decrease by over 85% (as of 2015).

Wetlands

What are the trends in the extent and condition of wetlands and their effects on human health and the environment?

Marina del Rey, CA: Fisherman's Village - NOW

CREATE A FISHERMAN'S VILLAGE RECREATION AND VIEWING AREA - OPPOSE Over-Development

FISHERMAN'S VILLAGE COMMENTS taken from the web:

Why can't we spruce up the existing buildings in Fisherman's Village and focus on a view of the Ballona Wetlands on the other side of Fiji? Don't we have enough commercial? I'd rather see herons! Anonymous

I just went there with my kids for the first time in like 20 years, and I was amazed at how unchanged it was. I rather liked it, frankly. These renderings look like nothing but a big array of parking structures." Anonymous

NO MORE OVER-DEVELOPMENT OF PRECIOUS RECREATION AND HABITAT AREAS like The Shores

Marina Del Rey city public park land leased by the County of LA to a private developer for The Shores a 5 Storey Hi-Rise Residential Building painted with high visibility Blue.

Marina Del Rey, CA: Creation of MDR by U.S. Congress Public Law 389 and 780 in 1954

Submitted on

Marina Del Rey was created with combined efforts of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles City and 83rd U.S. Congress Public Law 389 in 1954. Initial authorization under Rivers and Harbors Act was requested by the Committee on Commerce on June 2, 1936 and adopted by the U.S. Senate August 26, 1937. Document 389 contains various reports and comments from the U.S. Bureau of the Budget; the Chief of Engineering, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the U.S.

Marina Del Rey, CA: 950 Acres of Lower Ballona Watershed by Docs 389 and 780

Submitted on

In 1954, President Roosevelt's River and Harbor Act, Public Law 780, funded the creation of a public small boat harbor, beach expansion, parks and bird sanctuary on 950 acres of what was Ballona Wetlands.

Federal matching funds allocated for the dredging and construction of the marina, were used, with the 1954 intent of creating a public marina for access to all at a reasonable cost.  It's written in the public law.

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