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Sepulveda Basin Vision Plan

Photo Credit: Entoptic Studios - stock.adobe.com
 

UPDATE
The two and a half month comment period has now closed for the Draft Sepulveda Basin Vision Plan. 
Thank you to the hundreds of people and organizations that took the time to read the plan and make comments and suggestions. 
The team is reviewing all the feedback and the final draft of the Vision Plan will be made available in the coming months. 
If you would like to read the draft plan, you can download it HERE.

 

Sepulveda Basin Vision Plan Project

About the Project
Learn more about the process on the overview page: https://engineering.lacity.gov/sepulveda-basin-vision-plan/overview. 

The Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area is an approximately  2,000-acre flood management basin located in the San Fernando Valley near the intersection of the 101 and 405 Freeways. The Basin is owned by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and includes parks and recreational facilities managed primarily by the Los Angeles City Department of Recreation and Parks.

Need for Vision Plan
The Sepulveda Basin is the largest public open space in the San Fernando Valley, but surrounding neighborhoods are significantly lacking green open spaces with only 0.2 acres of park per 1000 people in Van Nuys and Sherman Oaks – significantly below the LA County goal of 4 acres/1000 people. While the Sepulveda Basin does provide recreational opportunities for the San Fernando Valley, it can be difficult to access and navigate, areas are underutilized and could be enhanced to provide better natural habitat, recreation, and cultural spaces. 

Goals of Vision Plan
The Sepulveda Basin Vision Plan sets out to establish a long-term strategic plan for the future of the Basin which will:

  • Increase resilience of the Basin and surrounding neighborhoods. 
  • Increase ecosystem function within the Basin using nature based solutions.
  • Create natural functioning of the LA River and Tributaries.
  • Improve interface between recreation and ecological areas.
  • Improve water quality of streams and outlets entering the Basin.
  • Improve multi-modal transportation access to the Basin and within the Basin.
  • Enhance recreational, educational and cultural programming.

Current Sepulveda Basin Amenities
The Basin is currently home to parks, a wildlife preserve, three golf courses, an 80-acre sports field, an archery range, playgrounds, bike paths, hiking trails, tennis courts, a velodrome, Balboa Lake with boat rentals and fishing, the Balboa Park and Sports Center, a Japanese garden, cricket grounds at Woodley Park, model aircraft field and a dog park. An unpaved stretch of the Los Angeles River flows through the Basin surrounded by vegetation and is a home to wildlife.

 

Sepulveda Basin Vision Plan Community Meeting 5

Thank you to everyone who attended the panel discussion on December 7 for the Sepulveda Basin Vision Plan! Your input has been crucial throughout the planning process of this project and we hope you enjoyed learning more about the Vision Plan from panelists, including Diana Weynand, Chapter Chair of the San Fernando Valley Climate Reality Project, Rudy J. Ortega, Jr., Tribal President of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, Marcelino Ascensio, Senior Civil Engineer from the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering Architectural Division, Lorenzo Sandoval from Guppies Fishing Adventures, and Mark Hanna, Principal at Geosyntec. The presentation and previous meeting boards can be found in the links below.

 

Photo Credit: OLIN