A watershed is an area of land that drains all rain that falls within it to a common point. This map identifies environmental features and resources in the Ballona Watershed, which is part of the larger Santa Monica Bay watershed. The Ballona Watershed drains through Ballona Creek to Santa Monica Bay.
A watershed is an important way to organize how we think about natural relationships among water, earth, and people. Watersheds provide habitat for plants and animals and provide important environmental benefits such as water filtration and storage. The hydrologic cycle (precipitation, percolation and evaporation) intersects with and shapes earth’s topography, contributing to unique combinations of plant and animal species. Humans are also part of watersheds, relying on their water and unique environments, yet, by channeling streams and paving over the earth, humans have drastically altered the original percolation and filtration zones of the watershed. It is our hope that the reader will contemplate these changes, and also dream of how we might restore some of the watershed while continuing to enjoy living an urban life in Southern California.
Green Maps locate and promote sustainable urban features, both natural and manmade. All over the world, cities and towns are being Green Mapped using the globally shared, award-winning icons used on this map. You can see them all at www.greenmap.org.
The Santa Monica & Ballona Watershed Green Map was conceived and designed by: Duvivier Architects, Isabelle Duvivier, AIA; with Dafna Kohn, Rosa Bruno, and Mark Child, GIS analysts; Keri Morton and Andrew Steinman, designers; Camille Kirk of Context Research & Mapping; and Bob Zuber and Wendy Brawer of Green Map System. Map development and printing was funded by the City of Santa Monica Environmental Programs Division.
For more about this and other green maps by Isabelle Duvivier, visit http://www.idarchitect.com/mapping/.
Originally published 4th quarter 2002, in arcCA 02.4, “New Material.”
