Sedimental nostalgia on Ballona Creek
May 13th, 2011 § 5 Comments
A few posts ago I mentioned the Rain Gardens being built on Ballona Creek. I am working with the contractor on the project, and so have been fortunate to observe the stages of implementation. We are still weeks away from completion.
Cobble and sand deposits, Ballona Creek flood control right-of-way.
Several weeks ago I took a walk along an excavated area of the right of way. These excavations will be filled with a soil-compost mix in terraced bioswales. But the walk along this opened-up bank was oddly poignant, revealing layers of Ballona Creek that had itself been excavated and then piled up here. The sense of Ballona as a once-natural watercourse became more tangible seeing pockets of cobble and sand that must have been in the creek’s bed at one time, carried from the Hollywood Hills, tossed and gently moved over decades until deposited out of the channel to build up the flood control channel. It was as moving to me, imagining the life that once flourished here, and as haunting as visiting the ruins of Chaco Canyon or any archeological site.
This bit of geology will be closed back up soon as walls are built up, filled and planted. But perhaps someday those cobbles will be free to roll down a restored river – when we’ve finally embraced our waterways as part of the urban fabric.
Maybe someday.
Know that your nostalgia for those ancient watercourses and
your vision for the future are certainly shared by many of us out here.
I love the way you look at the world, and help others to see it through your eyes.
Thank you, Mike and Jonathan.
So they are replacing the concrete with living walls??!!
Not living walls in the sense of the vertical planted walls, there are terraced walls that will support bioswales behind them.