The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a draft land plan for the Sepulveda Basin that, on paper, nearly sextuples the acreage set aside for intensive recreation. Comments are due Friday, October 30, 2026. The largest piece of that increase, 795 acres, is land the draft describes as already used for intensive recreation: the golf courses, the Lake Balboa area, the model airplane field and the Woodley Park archery and cricket areas. Most of the rest is roadway land the 2011 plan never classified and former future-recreation land that includes the Japanese Garden. The draft mostly brings the paperwork in line with the park that already exists around Lake Balboa. What it would permit later, and who keeps access to the land moving into the operations category, are the questions still open.
The Draft 2026 Sepulveda Dam Master Plan and Environmental Assessment came out September 16. It revises a 2011 plan covering 2,131 acres and is meant to guide the federal land for the next 25 years. The Corps doesn't run any of the recreation facilities in the basin. Local partners operate those, and the master plan sets the land classifications they work within. That's why a change in labels matters to anyone who walks, golfs, bikes or birds there.
The Before-and-After Table
This is the draft's own summary of how the basin's acreage is reclassified from 2011 to 2026:
| Land classification | 2011 acres | 2026 acres |
|---|---|---|
| High Density Recreation | 235 | 1,369 |
| Low Density Recreation | 802 | 7 |
| Vegetative Management | 339 | 130 |
| Wildlife Management | 0 | 154 |
| Project Operations | 155 | 471 |
| Future or Inactive Recreation | 328 | 0 |
| Environmentally Sensitive Area | 119 | 0 |
| Unclassified | 152 | 0 |
According to the Corps, some of the differences come from better measurement technology, real estate actions, improved record keeping and land that was never classified before. Every acre in the basin got either a new name required by regulation or a new label meant to match how the land is "actually and projected" to be used.
Where the Recreation Acres Come From
High Density Recreation grows by 1,134 acres. The draft accounts for that growth in four pieces:
- 795 acres of former Low Density Recreation. This is the land under Balboa Golf Course, Woodley Lakes Golf Course, the Lake Balboa area, the Apollo 11 Model Aircraft Field, and the Woodley Park archery and cricket areas. The draft says it's being relabeled because it already supports intensive recreation.
- 180 acres of former Future or Inactive Recreation. This was set aside in 2011 for recreation development, including projects that have since been built, such as the Japanese Garden.
- 152 acres the 2011 plan never classified. This is land under roadways. The draft says it's labeled High Density Recreation "to give the leaseholder the most latitude in managing roadways."
- 7 acres of former Vegetative Management.
For Lake Balboa specifically, Anthony C. Beilenson Park is about 80 acres around a 27-acre lake, and it's in the high-density category. The draft doesn't give a separate acreage for the Lake Balboa parcel. Balboa Sports Complex at 85 acres, Woodley Park at 80, the 6.5-acre Japanese Garden, the Woodley Park Archery Range, the Sepulveda Basin Cricket Fields, the 15-acre Model Airplane Field and Hjelte Sports Center are all listed in the same section.
The draft also states plainly what it is not. It contains no site designs and no cost estimates. Any action that would cause significant disturbance to natural resources or significant public interest would need its own environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act. For the roughly 10 miles of multi-use trail along the basin's edge and beside Balboa Boulevard and Woodley Avenue, the stated goal is to maintain and improve the existing system and to improve connections within the current recreation footprint.
The plan keeps one small piece of low-density land. It's a 7-acre section next to Libbit Park, at the far south end of the basin, with an unpaved walking trail. The draft says there are no plans for intensive recreation there because the space is too small.
What the High-Density Label Would Allow
What the label permits matters more than the acreage count. The draft defines High Density Recreation as land for intensive public recreation: day-use areas, campgrounds, marinas and the concessions that support them. It says future facilities should depend on the project's resources and treats the existing municipal golf courses as grandfathered.
Local birders are focused on that point. In the October/November 2026 issue of the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society's Phainopepla newsletter, Pat Bates wrote that many areas previously classified as suitable for low density recreation are now classified as high density recreation areas, "which would allow for expanded commercial concessions."
"We are concerned about maintaining the habitat value of as much of the basin as possible."
That line also comes from Bates's Phainopepla article. She wrote it after the Corps briefed the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Areas Steering Committee and before the full draft documents were in hand. She said the Society would comment on the draft, including questions about some of the classification boundaries.
The Wildlife Areas Change Labels
The Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Area and the Bull Creek Restoration Area both move into a new Wildlife Management category, which totals 154 acres in the draft. The Wildlife Area was previously classified as an Environmentally Sensitive Area, and the land around Bull Creek was previously Vegetative Management.
Under the draft's definitions, Environmentally Sensitive is the stricter label. It covers land with identified scientific, ecological, cultural or aesthetic features, and it typically allows limited or no development for public use. The draft explains the switch in one sentence: former ESA land "has been redesignated as Wildlife Management to allow more intensive management activities to improve habitat for wildlife, including federally listed species." Wildlife Management still puts wildlife conservation first, and it permits passive recreation such as natural-surface trails and wildlife observation unless sensitive species or public safety call for restrictions.
The plan lists the hands-on work it has in mind. It includes managing invasive plants, restoring native vegetation, adding a pollinator garden and installing wildlife-friendly fencing. The draft notes that 13 federally listed threatened and endangered species could use habitat in the basin. It says any work will follow the Endangered Species Act and be coordinated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and California resource agencies. Dropping the ESA label doesn't remove the legal obligations to protect those species.
The two areas are familiar from the Lake Balboa side of the basin:
- Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Area. The draft describes it as 130 acres bounded by Burbank Boulevard, Woodley Avenue, Woodley Park and the dam embankment. It has a 12-acre wildlife lake with a 0.75-acre bird refuge island, fed by the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant. Work there began in 1979 with a 48-acre riparian area, and the last major expansion was in 1998. The classification table shows 119 acres moving out of the ESA category, a different figure from the 130-acre description, and the draft doesn't explain the gap.
- Bull Creek Restoration Area. This is about 28 acres east of Balboa Boulevard and west of Lake Balboa, inside Beilenson Park. It includes 3,000 feet of restored Bull Creek and an oxbow channel fed with reclaimed water from the lake. It was completed in 2009, and the draft says it needs further restoration work.
Bates wrote that both areas are "of special concern." She wants to be sure the new classification's permitted uses will support the City of Los Angeles's protection measures.
Access to the Operations Land
Project Operations land, which is managed for the dam's operational requirements, grows from 155 to 471 acres. That includes 170 acres of former vegetative land along the channelized streams, especially the Los Angeles River. It also includes 141 acres of former future-recreation land now supporting non-recreation operations by the City's Bureau of Engineering, the California Air National Guard and the U.S. Army, plus 4 acres along the G Line Busway and Balboa Boulevard that the 2011 plan never classified.
Bates's reading of the briefing was that the Corps is reclassifying the entire Los Angeles River, Hayvenhurst and Woodley creeks, the northern part of Haskell Creek and the whole "South Reserve" as Project Operations. She raised "concern about continued accessibility to the Operations Areas for birding and other activities." The draft doesn't answer that question parcel by parcel, and its map book sheets are the place to check exact boundaries.
How This Plan Relates to the City's Vision Plan
The Corps says it prepared its draft independently of the City's Sepulveda Basin Vision Plan, which was finalized in June 2024. The City plan covers river and tributary restoration, a continuous Los Angeles River route and new or upgraded recreation facilities. The Corps plan covers land classification, not capital projects. Its labels still determine which of the City's ideas can happen on federal land, so the two plans meet at every parcel.
The Last Day for Comments
The draft plan, environmental assessment, map books and an informational presentation are posted on the Corps' Sepulveda Dam project page. The Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council summarized the process in an October 16 notice without taking a position. According to the Corps' news release, written comments are due by October 30, 2026, in any standard format, with "Sepulveda Dam Master Plan" clearly marked. You can email them to [email protected] or mail them to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District, Operations Division - Sepulveda Dam, Attn: Master Plan Project Manager, 645 Durfee Ave, Bldg. #2, South El Monte, CA 91733.
This is the second public round. The first ran from February 10 to March 26, 2025. The draft's finding of no significant impact is still marked "DRAFT," and it says public comments and the Corps' responses will be included in the final plan. A schedule slide in the draft's appendices still shows final approval in April 2026, a date that has already passed, and no updated date for the final plan is available.
The basin's open space next door is one of the things that defines Lake Balboa, and how that land is managed over the next 25 years matters to every homeowner nearby. If you're thinking about selling here and want help describing that setting to buyers accurately, Arthur Aslanian offers a complimentary staging consultation and market valuation for Lake Balboa homeowners.
