 |
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||
|
Click
HERE for a Regional Trail Map of
the Basin (13.26MB pdf file) – Click
HERE for a local trail map of
the Wildlife Reserve |
|||||||||||||
|
|
||
|
Haskell
Creek, where it runs through Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve, hosts
many riparian trees and shrubs, such as cottonwoods and willows.
Songbirds forage and nest in the trees, while egrets and
herons fish in this heart of the Wildlife Area.
Presently it is infested with trash.
Please help clean up the mess, restoring our lovely creek!
Equipment and Clothing:
You
will get muddy and maybe wet.
Please wear rugged clothing and shoes or rubber boots.
If you have them, bring work gloves and long-handled tools to
reach trash.
Directions:
The Wildlife Reserve is east of Woodley Ave. about a half mile north
of Burbank Blvd. Turn east at the sign for the Japanese Garden (6100
Woodley Ave., Van Nuys, CA. 91406), stay to the right, and follow
Wildlife Way about a half mile, going half way around a traffic
circle, to the parking area at the end of the road.
Meet at the amphitheater
behind the rock-faced buildings.
More Information:
The event is appropriate for
adults and students who
are accompanied by an adult. Students
can get certificates and
earn community service hours.
Rain
cancels.
Educational Activities:
To
support the clean-up, the Resource Conservation District, on behalf
of the LA River Master Plan, will offer hands-on activities to help
the public learn more about Sepulveda Basin and the LA River. Questions: 310.457-5796 (Muriel) or 818.998-3216 (Diana)
Sponsored by San Fernando Valley Audubon
www.SFVAudubon.org
In conjunction with Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Areas Steering
Committee
|
||
|
Wildlife Sightings and
Conservation
|
|||||||||||||||||
About the Sepulveda Flood Control Basin |
||||
All property within the Sepulveda Flood Control Basin is owned by the Los Angeles District Corps of Engineers, but more than 80% of the land is leased out for recreational and agricultural uses. Sepulveda Dam, completed in 1941, is a dry-land reservoir, with the purpose of controlling runoff from nearby San Gabriel, Santa Monica, and Santa Susana Mountains.
Besides the Encino and Balboa golf courses, the Balboa Sports Complex, and the model airplane field, most of the Basin was devoted to agriculture (corn and then sod farms). In the mid-1960’s, Burbank Blvd. was extended across the Basin. In the 1970’s the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation built the Donald Tillman Water Reclamation Plant within the Basin (over the objections of the Corp of Engineers). |
||||
In March of 1981, a revised Master Plan for the area was adopted. At the time, of the 2,150 acres in the Sepulveda Basin, approximately 1,060 acres were committed to recreational uses. The updated Master Plan designated an additional 540 acres for future recreational uses. Included in the plan are provisions for the commitment of approximately 220 acres of land to informal park space, 120 acres for development of a recreational lake, 108 acres for a wildlife management area, and 60 acres for an “arts park” that has been subsequently redesignated for a “sports complex” (the area west of Balboa Blvd. just north of the Los Angeles River. |
||
The Master Plan also tried to minimize adverse environmental effects and recommended “designing reaches of newly-formed lakes and ponds |
||
In 1979 the Corp of Engineers developed the first area of the Wildlife Reserve (formerly called the South Reserve), an approximate 48 acre parcel located south of Burbank Blvd and bordered by the Los Angeles River and the Sepulveda Dam on the east and south. A “pothole” pond (fed with piped-in fresh water) was created, and vegetation representing coastal sage scrub and riparian woodlands were planted.
This area was drastically altered in December 2012 and as of January
2013 there were ongoing negotiations between environmental groups and
the Army Corps of Engineers (see section above below upcoming events). |
||
The approximate 60-acre North Reserve (north of Burbank Blvd., east of Haskell Creek, west of the Dam) was developed in 1988, featuring an 11-acre lake with an island and wildlife viewing stations. Various revegetation projects have been undertaken since then. |
||
 |
 |
|||
the reserve entrance and restrooms. |
||||
In 1991 the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant Flood Protection Project was finalized, and subsequently a berm was built around the Water Reclamation Plant to protect it from flooding, compensating excavation was performed in various places, and the outflow from the Water Reclamation Plant was rerouted under the dam so the outflow was outside (to the south) of the Dam. The 7-acre berm was planted with California native plants and is the largest native landscaping project developed by the City of Los Angeles. |
 |
|||
In 1994, the City and Federal governments agreed to sharing the costs on $11 million in improvements in the Sepulveda Basin. The wildlife are was expanded 110 acres to the west of Haskell Creek (on either side of Woodley Avenue). Additional facilities in the wildlife area included trails, restrooms and staging area, signs, benches, viewing blinds and parking. This project was completed in 1999. |
||
 |
Member Organizations and Affiliated Agencies |
 SFV Audubon |
 California Native Plant Society |
 L.A. Audubon |
 Sierra Club, San Fernando Valley Group |
|
 FoLAR |
 LA City Rec and Parks |
 Resource Conservation District |
 The Japanese Garden |
|
|
Friends of Lake Balboa |
||
 |
||
Web page and design by Justin Baker. |
||
|
Last Updated 3/7/2019 |
||
 |
||