Talbert Lake plan streams forward

What do you do with urban runoff, dirty with all the junk that goes down north county storm drains? If a city plan goes through, the answer will be: Send it to Central Park.

According to a plan developed by city officials, the city would spend $5.5 million to divert about 1 million gallons of water a day into the park’s Talbert Lake, whose water levels are low. But before the water reached the lake, a man-made wetland would naturally clean it, according to officials.

The city zoning administrator held a public hearing on the project Wednesday afternoon, and speakers were divided on its merits.

Ultimately, Zoning Administrator Ricky Ramos approved rezoning the project to move forward.

“I was satisfied with the response to those comments,” Ramos said

The project can be appealed to the City Planning Commission within 10 days.

Members of some local environmental groups praised the plan.

Ray Hiemstra, Orange County Coastkeeper associate director of programs, said it was the right move.

“This is exactly the kind of first step we’d like to see,” he said. “We believe it will improve wildlife habitat in Central Park as well as in the Bolsa Chica.”

Amigos de Bolsa Chica President Dave Carlberg said the group was excited about “anything that will improve the water quality of the Bolsa Chica.”

Resident and open-space activist Mark Bixby said that while he thinks the project’s aims are admirable, he doesn’t want to lose some “pretty lush” bird habitat inside the channel when the fresh water flow stops.

Bixby also said he fears that cutting off more than a million gallons of fresh water to the Bolsa Chica wetlands might make them more salty and damage that habitat.

City officials have said the salinity of the wetlands won’t cause a major problem, but Bixby said he hasn’t seen any hard numbers from the city and wants the California Coastal Commission to review the issue.

“If Coastal Commission staff say, ‘We don’t see a problem,’ you can mark me down as a cheerleader instead of a skeptic,” he said.

Scott Thomas of the Sea and Sage Audubon Society said his group also supported the project in general, but was “a little concerned there wasn’t enough consideration for downstream effects that might happen.”

The water would come from the East Garden Grove Wintersburg Channel, which brings runoff from as far as Anaheim and Orange down a path that ends at the ocean on the edge of the Bolsa Chica wetlands. An inflatable rubber dam would divert the channel’s water into the lake instead, except during storms when waters could rush down the channel to prevent flooding, according to officials.

In addition to refilling the lake, the plan’s stated benefits include the creation of habitat for rare wildlife the same man-made wetlands that would clean the water and eventually excess water that could be used to irrigate plants and fields in the park.

The City Council must still weigh in on the project, and it is expected to vote on a contract for the construction next summer.

MICHAEL ALEXANDER may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or at michael.alexander@latimes.com.