Gardena Willows Wetland Preserve
The Gardena Willows Wetland Preserve occupies 13.6 acres (55,000 m2) of land owned by the City of Gardena, in Los Angeles County, California. The preserve is the last intact remnant of the former Dominguez Slough, an important vernal marsh that once covered as much as 400 acres (1,600,000 m2) of this area, known as the South Bay region of Los Angeles County. The preserve has 9.4 acres (38,000 m2) of wetland and 4.2 acres (17,000 m2) of upland. The wetlands have a natural depression where water remains for such a significant time that plants and animals not adapted to water and saturated soils cannot survive. The upland, which remains dry outside of the rainy season, supports plants which thrive with these drier conditions. The slough is a part of the Dominguez Watershed, 96% of which is now covered with concrete and man-made structures. It is believed that the Tongva, the native people of this region, were able to commute by canoe around much of the area. Tongva villages were located throughout much of what is now Los Angeles and Orange Counties as well as islands just off the coast.
In 1918 a drainage canal off the Los Angeles River was the first construction project which ultimately led to the end of the Dominguez Slough. After the completion of this canal, during the next fifty years the slough was filled for various construction projects of the growing megalopolis of Los Angeles County. The Dominguez Channel was built in the 1920s to replace natural drainage provided by the slough; today the Channel drains about 62% of the area of the former Dominguez Watershed, focusing water into the Los Angeles Harbor. In the 1970s, two young Gardena residents became concerned about the mass destruction of willow trees they had witnessed during their short life-times. They sought a way to protect the remaining willows and ultimately contacted the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps recognized the area as a waterway under their jurisdiction and provided federal protection against further destruction of the wetland and the upland immediately surrounding it. Today, eight of the preserve’s wetland acres remain under jurisdiction of the Corps while all 9.4 of the wetland acres are under California Department of Fish and Game jurisdiction. The hydrology, soils and native vegetation of the preserve determine these jurisdictional markers. The preserve was federally protected from exploitation by environmental laws of the 1960s and 1970s specific to the protection of wetlands. These environmental laws, such as the Clean Water Act, enacted in 1948 and substantially revised in 1972, reflected growing awareness of the unique ecology and environmental significance of wetlands.
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