Water flows through it

The morning of Aug. 24 will forever be etched into the memories of those waiting to see the tidal pools of the Bolsa Chica wetlands, shimmering under overcast skies, reconnect to the Pacific Ocean after more than a century.

Spectators and environmentalists lined the Pacific Coast Highway bridge over the inlet beginning at 4 a.m. to see ocean waters moving gingerly into the tidal inlet.

The moment was the zenith of 30-year efforts to save and restore a big chunk of the 1,200 acres of wetlands.

“This is the real thing,” said Jim Trout, project coordinator of the California State Lands Commission, which owns the wetlands. He traveled from Sacramento to witness the event. Many other state officials also were present.

Ocean water was supposed to trickle into the tidal inlet, but the dribble soon turned into a torrent.

Former Huntington Beach mayor Shirley Dettloff couldn’t sleep much the night before Aug. 24. She was one of the pioneer members of the Amigos de Bolsa Chica, a group of people who joined forces in 1976 to save the wetlands.

“It’s so significant for so many of us,” she said with a big smile. “All the work we did for 30 years, we have finally achieved what we set out to do.”

In the 1970s, people thought wetlands were only good for creating marinas and building homes.

The wetlands had been diked by a duck-hunting club in 1899 to make it easier for members to catch their prey.

The restoration program included cleaning soil contaminated by years of oil drilling on the wetlands that began in the 1940s.

Resident Therese Simon was on hand to watch the sand barrier give way to the ocean water. She and other residents had been waiting eagerly for the inlet to be opened.

“We think it’s so great that they are rehydrating the wetlands,” Simon said. “The water was stagnant and stinking in the wetlands.”

“It’s a defining moment in the history of the Bolsa Chica,” said Marc Stirdivant, Bolsa Chica Land Trust director. “Now we have to wait and see what Mother Nature can do and what the Bolsa Chica can do.”

Fresh ocean water entering into the wetland pools will provide different types of habitats for a variety of birds and marine species. It will also help flush out the wetlands twice a day at high and low tides.

“You can get about 30 species in the first year and about 60 in the next five to 10 years,” said Bob Hoffman, biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“This is so great — even if it cost $147 million to do it,” said David Ennen, Huntington Beach resident. “Hope they keep it as it is and never ever think of building on it.”

Funding for the restoration project came from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The ports acquired the wetlands for restoration purposes as a way to offset port expansions.

Members of the Amigos de Bolsa Chica, who got together in 1976 to save the wetlands, toasted the historic opening with bottles of Korbel champagne and strawberries.

“It’s been a long time in coming,” said Terri Stewart, biologist with the California Department of Fish & Game, which will be managing and operating the wetlands.

“It’s been made possible with a lot of involvement by a lot of people,” Stewart said.

A set of muted tidal pools, which are shallow pools of water, and the full tidal pool are expected to provide habitats for several endangered species, such as California least terns, Belding’s Savannah Sparrow as well as migratory birds and fishes.

A similar project in the Bataquitos Lagoon in Carlsbad was successful in bringing back fishes and endangered species of birds, Hoffman said.

Prior to the opening of the inlet, “fishes had no way of getting into the system,” he added.

Endangered species such as the California Halibut spawn can now enter into the wetland pools, and after about a year head back into the ocean and complete their lifecycle, Hoffman said.

Sea bass and several species of perch and forests of giant kelp will be able to come back, he said.