Culver City Shares Storm Water Treatment Ideas to Create a Cleaner Ballona Creek and Santa Monica Bay

EARTH DAY 2015-If your city is looking for some ideas on how to deal with storm water … here’s a start.  

City of Culver City has completed a multi-faceted approach to help enhance water quality in Ballona Creek (photo), local beaches, and coastal waters by implementing several projects. Culver City’s Stormwater Management Program is comprised of a series of Best Management Practices all working together to prevent pollutants originating in the City, such as trash, automotive fluids (oil, gasoline, antifreeze), and chemical wastes (paint, pesticides, fertilizers) from ending up on Santa Monica Bay beaches and in coastal waters. 

Funding for these projects was provided with Proposition 50 funds, which were awarded by the State Water Resources Control Board, as recommended by the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission (SMBRC).   

Micheál O’Leary, City of Culver City Vice Mayor and Chair of the SMBRC, states, “Completing these projects demonstrates an important partnership with the SMBRC, the State Water Board, the EPA, and the City which are all working together to directly address goals outlined in the SMBRC’s Bay Restoration Plan, as well as State and Federal regulations, to prevent storm water pollution.  These improvements will benefit the entire community and fragile ecosystems, both on land and in the water.” 

The nine-mile-long Ballona Creek, once a natural stream that was channelized in the 1930’s, drains a large portion of the Los Angeles basin, from the Santa Monica Mountains on the north, the Harbor Freeway (I-110) on the east, and the Baldwin Hills on the south. At 130 square-miles, the Ballona Creek Watershed is the largest watershed in the Santa Monica Bay, and is comprised of all or parts of the cities of Beverly Hills, Culver City, Inglewood, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and unincorporated communities of Los Angeles County. 

Because Ballona Creek drains such a large area, it is particularly affected by all of the various pollutants that are dumped or deposited anywhere in its drainage area. To help address this issue, Culver City completed the following projects to either prevent pollutants from reaching the Creek or to help cleanse storm water runoff before it flows into the Creek: 

Storm Drain Screens 

The City installed more than 1,000 automatic retractable and connector pipe trash screens in storm drain catch basins.  These screens help prevent trash, leaves, and other debris from flowing into the storm drain system.  The automatic, retractable screens are installed at the street level to prevent large debris from entering the catch basin.  A connector pipe screen is installed inside the catch basin to prevent debris as small as 5mm from entering the storm drain system.  In dry weather, the automatic retractable screens are closed, and in wet weather they open to prevent flooding.

Trash and Recycling Bins 

95 new “split line design” receptacles that accept both trash and recyclable materials were placed on major boulevards and in high-use areas throughout the City. 

Rain Gardens 

Several rain gardens were designed and installed at select sites throughout the community.  A rain garden is a landscaped area designed to infiltrate runoff or treat it before being discharged to the storm drain system, thereby preventing potential pollutants from entering the storm drain system and Ballona Creek.  The four locations are as follows: 

• The City’s first rain garden is located along the Ballona Creek bike path, adjacent to two schools, measuring 1,400 square feet and treating 3.4 acres of school property.
• The 4,000 square foot rain garden along Jefferson Boulevard at the City’s Public Works Building/City Yard also includes a 3,000-gallon cistern collecting roof runoff.
• The City’s Transfer Station has 2,050-square feet of rain gardens that treat 7,500 square feet of the station’s property, as well as approximately one acre of street drainage.
• Previous City landscaping in front of four homes at the corner of Baldwin Avenue and Farragut Drive was replaced with 2,100 square feet of rain gardens treating 5.6 acres of residential properties and streets. 

SMBRC hopes that data from the completed programs will be available in mid-2015.  In the meantime, storm drain screens and trash/recycling bins are already at work preventing trash and other pollutants from entering Ballona Creek, and the rain gardens have been successfully filtering runoff from rainstorms, lowering the volume of polluted storm water heading into Ballona Creek and ultimately to Santa Monica Bay’s beaches and near shore waters.

“The City of Culver City appreciates the leadership of our project partners, which helped provide the much needed funding to implement these important projects. Together, we are cleaning, beautifying and improving Ballona Creek for years to come. The City is committed to pursuing projects that promote a clean and healthy environment, and protect our Ballona Creek watershed,” said Culver City Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells. 

 

(Julie Du Brow handles Communications for the Santa Monica Bay National Estuary Program, which includes The Bay Foundation and the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission.  Julie is an occasional contributor to CityWatch.)

-cw

 

CityWatch

Vol 13 Issue 33

Pub: Apr 21, 2015