Support for wetlands inlet plan rising

Bryce Alderton

A proposal to restore the Bolsa Chica wetlands by putting a tidal

inlet at the south end of Bolsa Chica State Beach got a boost of support

this week from city officials and wetland activists but not the

environmental group, the Surfrider Foundation.

At a meeting Monday, members of the City Council Committee voted 3 to

1 in favor of the inlet proposal as well as to keep the East Garden

Grove-Wintersburg flood control channel as is, emptying into the Outer

Bolsa Bay.

The committee’s voting members include council members Ralph Bauer,

Connie Boardman, Shirley Dettloff and Peter Green. Planning Commissioner

Ed Kerins and the city’s environmental board are also members.

Boardman reminded the audience during the meeting that the City

Council has no authority to approve or disapprove the project. It can

only give a recommendation to the California Coastal Commission, which

will hold a public workshop on the issue Aug. 9 in Redondo Beach.

The proposed tidal inlet would cut through the south end of Bolsa

Chica State Beach, leading into the Lowlands area.

Representatives from the Amigos de Bolsa Chica and Bolsa Chica

Conservancy offered their support of the proposal.

Adrianne Morrison, executive director of Bolsa Chica Conservancy, said

she favors the project, but added that water quality in Huntington

Harbour must be a top concern when devising any restoration plan.

“A tidal inlet is critical to the success of the restoration, but I’m

concerned about Huntington Harbour’s water quality,” Morrison said.

Morrison warned against possible pollution coming from Huntington

Harbour when the 2.7-million cubic yards of Bolsa Chica Lowlands are

dredged as part of the work.

“Pollution could come into Bolsa Bay so a flap gate or something would

have to be installed,” Morrison said.

President of Amigos de Bolsa Chica, Linda Moon, said the only way to

get restoration of the wetlands is with the tidal inlet, but she too is

concerned about pollution hitting both the beaches and Huntington

Harbour.

“There’s a channel pollution problem that should not exist, and I

would prefer the Wintersburg channel not running into Outer Bolsa Bay

with heavy metals,” Moon said.

Green, who is vice chairman of the Orange County Sanitation District,

pointed out that water from the flood-control channel could be diverted

into the sanitation district.

Right now, the district handles an average of 2-million gallons of

water a day during the dry season, he said. The district could handle

10-million gallons.

Green said he, too, favored the tidal inlet plan.

“The inlet would be at the lowest point at Pacific Coast Highway and

the narrowest point on the beach, so it would keep much of the beach open

for people to enjoy,” Green said.

But “much” of the beach is not enough for members of the Surfrider

Foundation.

Surfrider member Gary Sargent, who attended the meeting, said the plan

could endanger the beach.

“I’m worried about destroying coastal properties because any kind of

jetties will stop flow of sand,” Sargent said.

Instead of the inlet plan, Sargent suggested wetlands restoration with

no inlet and managed seawater and freshwater input.

He also was careful to call his alternative solution an “enhancement,”

not restoration.

“My independent solution calls for full-tidal fluctuations with

floodgates controlled electronically to minimize flow through Huntington

Harbour,” Sargent said.

Sargent’s proposal would have the inlet at the end of the Wintersburg

channel feeding into the northern portions of the wetlands.

Sargent was not alone in questioning the inlet proposal. Boardman

opposed it, as well, citing the loss of a group of birds in the area.

The project calls for the restoration of 880 acres of the Bolsa Chica

Lowlands to create wetland and habitat areas, including 368.5 acres of

full tidal and 200 acres of muted tidal habitat.

A bridge for PCH would need to be constructed over the inlet channel,

and a drain would have to be built between the wetlands and nearby

housing development.

Jack Fancher of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said seawater that

takes a long time to flush out now because it must travel about four

miles would speed up and water would circulate better and remain fresher

with the new inlet.

“The best biological payoff is the increased tidal influence,” Fancher

said.

Fancher added that one of the wildlife service’s job is to complete an

ecological study that will determine appropriate cleanup levels that

other parties will have to put in place.

“We will also work with Caltrans on designing and building a bridge

[for PCH],” Fancher said.

The project could force the removal of nontidal pickle weed, a grass

that harbors Belding’s Savannah sparrow, according to the plan’s

environmental review. To construct the full tidal basin, between 118 and

138 Belding’s Savannah sparrow territories could be lost.

At its Aug. 9 meeting, the coastal commission will receive feedback on

the project from eight state and federal agencies and the public. A final

decision isn’t expected before October.

The commission isn’t anywhere near a decision, said Larry Simon, a

project analyst for the Coastal Commission.

Simon also noted that permits must be given to state and federal

agencies involved before construction begins on the restoration.

“Restoration won’t start any time soon,” Simon said. In fact, his best

estimate is restoration work wouldn’t begin for more than a year with

completion sometime around 2005.

The City Council is scheduled to discuss the Bolsa Chica Lowlands

restoration at its next meeting Aug. 6.

Eight state and federal agencies are involved in the study including:

The California State Lands Commission, the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, the California Department of Fish and Game, the United States

Fish and Wildlife Service, the State Coastal Conservancy, the National

Marine Fisheries Service, the California Resources Agency and the U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers.