Canyon creek gets funds for improvement

Andrew Edwards

A stretch of Laguna Canyon Creek is set to get a makeover in the

coming year when the city spends a $25,000 grant to restore a small

section of the waterway.

The City Council unanimously approved the grant agreement with the

Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project at its Tuesday meeting.

The city will front $15,000 in matching funds to pay for the work.

The city’s share of the bill will come from leftover money that

was given to the city by the federal government to pay for projects

aimed at reducing water pollution, City Manager Ken Frank said.

The Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project is a consortium

of 17 state agencies that funds coastal wetlands restoration projects

between Santa Barbara and San Diego counties. Greg Gauthier, a

project coordinator with that group, said plans call for a high

amount of volunteer efforts from Lagunans and members of surrounding

communities, particularly students.

“It’s also a really good educational opportunity for the community

because the restoration is going to be completed with community

involvement,” Gauthier said.

The plans call for work along a 1,000 foot stretch of the creek

near the Bark Park, Gauthier said. About two acres of surrounding

land is also expected to benefit from the restoration.

Much of the work will involve replacing exotic plants with native

species. The project is the first effort to follow the

recommendations of the Laguna Creek Habitat Restoration Study, which

was released last December. The report called for restoration

projects along 4,000 feet of the creek between the dog park and

intersection of Laguna Canyon and El Toro roads.

“This is a stepping stone to doing further improvements along the

creek,” said Craig Justice, senior water quality analyst at the Water

Quality Department. Justice expects the creek will look better as a

work progresses.

“When you drive through, it will be a lot more visually pleasing,”

he said. “There will be more foliage, more trees, there will be more

habitat for birds.”

When the City Council initially approved the hunt for grants in

December, the South Orange County Watershed Conservancy, a local

environmental group, was set to play a big role in the endeavor.

Though the group did participate heavily in the search for grant

money, Roger von Butow, the group’s executive director, said he

decided to pull out of the project around June when the state opted

to make the city, not his group, the lead agency.

“We were not interested in working for the city,” he said. “We

provided a great deal of strategic and tactical support and we wound

up at the back of the bus.”

Restoration work could begin as early as this fall, Justice said.

“That’s the best time to plant trees and shrubs,” he said.