Their beautiful coastal settings make them desirable to real estate developers, while their great environmental benefits inspire efforts to protect them. As a result, proposals to build on and around coastal lagoons and wetlands are highly controversial.
Development can interfere with natural fresh or salt water flushing, causing a buildup of nutrients, heavy metals, and other pollutants that hinder fish and wild life. These coastal areas also are vulnerable to non-point source pollutants, such as runoff from city streets, sewage leaks, and sediment deposits.
California already has lost 90 percent of its wetlands, and only 450,000 acres of wetlands remain, two-thirds in the Central Valley and one-third along the coast. No where is the decline more evident than in Southern California, where some of the most prized wetlands Ballona in Los Angeles, Bolsa Chica near Huntington Beach, and Ormond Beach lagoon in Ventura County are themselves in jeopardy.
Southern California Planning Group
Recently, the state, pursuant to Governor Wilson's wetlands
conservation policy, joined with its federal counterparts and
established the Southern California Planning Group to guide
wetlands conservation from Point Conception in Santa Barbara
County to the Tijuana Estuary.
The planning group, chaired by Deputy Secretary for Resources Jim Burroughs, consists of the Department of Fish and Game, California Coastal Com mission, State Water Resources Control Board and the four regional water re sources control boards, the State Coastal Conservancy, the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
At the first meeting in September, the group devised a general strategy, starting with cataloging of existing wetlands and sensitive marine resources to create a database that will include existing information from agencies, academic institutions, and local government. If members agree, the group then will begin a scientific peer review as an underpinning for the regional policy.
"We intend to lay a scientific foundation for understanding how wetlands and marine water ecosystems operate and interact in Southern California," Burroughs said. "This will enable all agencies to make timely, informed, and consistent decisions on resource management issues, such as acquisition, permitting, and mitigation. By working together, local, state, and federal entities can more effectively design and implement ecosystem-based strategies for sustaining biodiversity in California."
Burroughs said the planning group will not disrupt or delay existing efforts to conserve and restore coastal marshes and lagoons, some of which encompass its conservation and restoration goals.
Batiquitos Lagoon
Such an example is the Batiquitos Lagoon Enhancement Project, a
coastal la goon in Carlsbad that is home to the threatened western
snowy plover and the endangered Belding's savannah sparrow.
Historically, Batiquitos was open to the ocean and freshened by
its tidal flows. But years of construction, land development, and
unsound agricultural practices filled the lagoon with sediment that
closed off tidal flows, reduced oxygen, and diminished fish and
wildlife, including rare and endangered species.
Groundbreaking occurred Sept. 30 for the restoration, which will reopen the mouth of the lagoon and install a jetty to reestablish natural tidal action required for a healthy habitat. The project already has begun to reap rewards with construction of the first of five nesting areas for the endangered California least tern. When completed, the lagoon will feature more than 35 acres of new, protected habitat.
The Batiquitos project is sponsored jointly by the City of Carlsbad, Port of Los Angeles, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Game, State Lands Commission, and the National Marine Fisheries Service.