Perched atop picturesque bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean on U.C. Santa Barbara’s campus, an impressive cadre of state and federal government resource leaders recently outlined a plan of action for the newly created Southern California Wetlands Clearinghouse. The clearinghouse is a partnership of government agencies established to chart a course for the acquisition, restoration, and enhancement of coastal wetlands from Pt. Conception to the Mexican border. To meet this goal, the clearinghouse is working with wetlands scientists and local communities in creating a coherent and long-term conservation strategy for wetlands recovery.
“Working alone, advocates have done much to protect individual wetlands along southern California’s coast. Working together through the clearinghouse, we can better coordinate our efforts to comprehensively address the needs of wetlands throughout the region, ” said Secretary for Resources, Doug Wheeler, who also serves as chair of the 14-member board of directors.
In its first meeting, the board identified 11 wetlands areas across Southern California for recovery work in the upcoming year. The group also toured nearby Goleta Slough, where restoration efforts are already underway and which was selected for priority funding this year.
The Wilson administration has proposed $6.75 million in this year’s state budget to implement a number of first year projects. The concept of the clearinghouse itself stems from the governor’s Wetlands Conservation Policy of 1993, which called for regional approaches and coordinated work of the public and private sectors in improving wetlands. It is hoped that the clearinghouse efforts will attract not only state, federal and local government funds, but private monies as well.
The program is guided by information contained in the Southern California Wetlands Inventory, a recently completed study that identifies historic and current conditions of 41 coastal wetlands. The inventory, performed jointly by the California Coastal Conservancy, Coastal Commission, and Fish and Wildlife Service, found that southern California has 14,900 acres of wetlands remaining from an historic 46,800 acres. The loss of coastal wetlands, commonly estimated at more than 90 percent, was found to be only between 70-75%. The inventory showed that San Diego County has the most amount of wetlands remaining, while Los Angeles County has suffered the greatest losses.
The clearinghouse has also begun a public outreach effort to involve environmental groups, businesses, and local governments in this effort. The state Coastal Conservancy has been holding regional meetings to involve interested parties and hopes to create a public advisory committee or joint venture to advise and guide the clearinghouse. The clearinghouse is expected to begin holding scientific workshops and meetings with the resource agency managers and the public to develop a 20-year vision on how and when to restore the remaining wetlands in southern California.
Before being presented to the directors for approval, the following list of projects was recommended for initial funding by noted wetland scientists and reviewed by the agency biologists. These projects include wetlands in each of the five southern California counties, and tentatively include Tijuana, San Elijo, Huntington Beach, Upper Newport Bay, Bolsa Chica, Malibu Lagoon, Ormond Beach, Ventura River and Goleta Slough.