Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve - California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW)

The Ballona Wetlands are located in Southern California, United States south of Marina del Rey and east of Playa del Rey. The wetlands once included the areas now taken up by Marina del Rey, Venice, and Playa Vista, extending north to about present-day Washington Blvd. in Venice.[1] It is one of the last significant wetlands areas in the Los Angeles basin, and is named for Port Ballona and Ballona Creek which now runs through the area as a flood control channel. In the 1930s the Ballona Creek corridor was channelized in concrete,[2] thus greatly reducing the inflow of salt water to the marsh, and eliminating spring floods, which brought freshwater to the wetlands. Among groups dedicated to protecting the wetlands is the Friends of Ballona Wetlands. **Please contact Jim Burton for the "Ballona Freshwater Marsh" on the corner of Jefferson and Lincoln. That area is privately managed. Contact information is included in the listing. Any filming at the Ballona Freshwater Marsh will require both Board of Directors and General Counsel approval – a process that could take a couple months depending on the scope and duration of the proposed activities.