Hahamongna is the rare spot in the Arroyo Seco at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains where the mountainous watershed meets the urban plain. Periodically floods roar into this basin. Bounded on the north by the mountains and Jet Propulsion Laboratory and on the south by Devil's Gate Dam, Hahamongna contains five unique habitat zones that only exist in alluvial canyons near the mountains. Most sites like this in Southern California have been destroyed.

Don't let Hahamongna go the way of other lost environmental treasures in Southern California.

Witness the Winter Storms in Hahamongna

Winter Storms

Is this anyplace to put soccer fields?

The Meaning of Hahamongna

The original settlers of the region were sometimes called the Hahamongna Indians. The word means "Flowing Waters, Fruitful Valley" in the native Tongva language.

1.4 Environmental Issues

Potential impacts of the proposed alternatives described in this document were assessed in accordance with NPR 8580.1, which requires that impacts to resources be analyzed in terms of their context, duration, and intensity. To help the public and decision-makers understand the implications of impacts, they are described in the short- and long-term, cumulatively, and within context, based on an understanding and interpretation by resource professionals and specialists. The resource areas to be reviewed and discussed in this EA include land use, traffic and transportation, utilities and services, air quality, noise, water resources, biological resources; hazardous materials and waste; and visual resources.

JPL Parking Lot Environmental Assessment Issued

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has issued an environmental assessment that considers the construction and operation of on-site parking structure at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to replace the current East Parking Lot at the mouth of Arroyo in Hahamongna Watershed Park.

For several decades Pasadena has leased the ten acre East Parking lot to JPL for motor vehicle parking, but the current lease period expires on June 30, 2013. In 2007, the City of Pasadena notified JPL that it intends to use the site for to enhance local water resources with spreading basins.

As the Draft Environmental Assessment states, “NASA JPL supports the City of Pasadena’s groundwater improvement projects relative to environmentally beneficial use of its land as a spreading basin. Thus, NASA JPL must vacate the East Arroyo Parking Lot and construct an onsite parking structure.”

The Draft Environmental Assessment has now been posted for public review. Comments must be received by June 28 and should be addressed to:

Mr. Steve Slaten
Environmental and Facility Manager
NASA Management Office
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109
818-393-6683
sslaten@nasa.gov

The Draft Environmental Assessment on the NASA JPL On-Site Parking Structure can be found here:

JPL Parking Lot Draft Environmental Assessment