Wetlands
Issues News
February
22, 2008
Judge stalls plan for Home Depot in Long Beach
A controversial Home Depot project in Long Beach -- planned across the
street from one of the region's last coastal wetlands -- is in limbo after a
judge Thursday tossed out the development's environmental report.
February
14, 2008
Sewer line in the works to run beneath river in Del Mar
DEL MAR - Plans to replace a sewer line beneath the San
Dieguito River appear to have the support of the city of Del
Mar and planners of a wetlands restoration project upstream.
February
5, 2008
Vista, Carlsbad reach deal with water quality regulators
VISTA -- City officials in Vista and Carlsbad have hammered
out a tentative deal with water quality regulators that
could lessen the penalty for the 7.3 million gallon sewage
spill last spring that fouled Buena Vista lagoon.
January 27, 2008
Newport Beach harbor is in shallow trouble
A dredging project is running out of money before the work is done, leaving
both boaters and bird-watchers unhappy.
October 27, 2007
Glass wall has birders seeing red
Conservationists are calling for a developer to take down a nearly mile-long
glass wall built around a new housing development near the Bolsa Chica
Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach after they say at least a dozen
birds, including several birds of prey, died when they flew into the
structure.
October 21, 2007
Time-share project proposed for lagoon site
CARLSBAD ---- The owners of a private boating club along the north side of
Agua Hedionda Lagoon are proposing to transform their decades-old, low-key
operation by adding a 26-unit, time-share condominium complex.
September
29, 2007
Sewage
spill could cost cities nearly $1.1 million
CARLSBAD
- A regulatory agency is considering slapping the cities of
Vista and Carlsbad with a $1.1 million fine over a massive
sewage spill that occurred this year at Buena Vista Lagoon.
Hotel
near lagoon opposed in report
OCEANSIDE
- The California Coastal Commission's staff has recommended
that the panel reject plans for an 82-unit hotel just north
of Buena Vista Lagoon in Oceanside.
September 6, 2007
Carlsbad
commission delays Ponto vote
CARLSBAD
-- Saying they still had many questions relating to traffic
and other topics, Carlsbad's planning commissioners delayed
a decision Wednesday on a controversial plan to guide
development in the southern coastal area known as Ponto.
August 28, 2007
$1.43 billion tally to fix San Francisco Bay wetlands
For years, local environmentalists have been dreaming that the old dikes and
salt ponds, hay fields and abandoned airfields jutting into the San
Francisco Bay would be restored to native wetlands, freeing the tides to
rush in once again.
July 29, 2007
Tension mounts over Los Cerritos Wetlands
A developer may be buying a parcel that two agencies want preserved.
July 12, 2007
Coastal panel postpones decision on Bolsa Chica
The California Coastal Commission on Wednesday postponed deciding the
fate
of a housing development slated for 50 acres near the Bolsa Chica wetlands
July 11, 2007
State orders project halted
The California Coastal Commission's executive director has ordered Bixby
Ranch Co. to halt a construction project that altered and filled a
piece of
the Los Cerritos Wetlands in Long Beach, calling the work a violation
of the
state Coastal Act.
June 23, 2007
Critics of Oxnard developments lash out
The proposed dual projects -- one residential, one light industrial --
would
threaten the area's fragile wetlands, they contend.
City likely to try corrosion-reduction system for pipes
CARLSBAD - After 7 million gallons of raw sewage poured through a broken
pipe into Buena Vista Lagoon two months ago, many said something
should be
done to prevent such a breach from happening again.
April 28, 2007
Draft environmental report on Ponto area out for review
CARLSBAD -- An environmental report on the Ponto beachfront area is
now out in draft form, Carlsbad officials said last week,
roughly two years after an intense public outcry prompted the city to
launch the study.
April 12, 2007
Sewage spill puts hatchery on alert
CARLSBAD, When the Agua Hedionda Lagoon was closed last week because
of a second sewage spill in the area, it raised red flags at a fish hatchery on the waterway's northwest shore.
April 4, 2007
Big fine projected for spill
CARLSBAD, Construction crews patched a small hole in a sewer mainline
yesterday afternoon, but not before about 5 million gallons of wastewater
fouled Buena Vista Lagoon and sparked speculation that a fine could reach
into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
April 3, 2007
Major sewage spill
More than 4 million gallons of raw sewage have spewed into a North County
lagoon since a sewer main broke Sunday night, forcing county health
officials yesterday to close more than a mile of beach in Oceanside and
Carlsbad.
March
28, 2007
State, feds want to remove salt-water barrier to Buena Vista Lagoon
CARLSBAD - Three agencies ---- the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the
state
Department of Fish & Game and the state Coastal Conservancy ---- are
studying four options for Buena Vista Lagoon, but the "preferred
alternative" is to remove a low concrete dam near the beach to allow the
ocean to come in, said Jane Hendron, spokeswoman for the Carlsbad
office of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
March
16, 2007
Removal of radioactive soil in Oxnard begins
The EPA is overseeing the cleanup of Oxnard's Ormond Beach wetlands, where
radioactive thorium has been found.
March
10, 2007
Army Corps eases rules on building in flood plains
WASHINGTON
– The Bush administration will allow some construction of
homes, shops, schools, prisons, hospitals and other
buildings in flood plains without formal environmental
reviews, despite the lessons of Hurricane Katrina.
March
4, 2007
Endangered shrimp delaying new school
SAN
DIEGO – Jonas Salk Elementary School was supposed to open
off Parkdale Avenue and Flanders Drive last September, but
construction remains stalled by endangered fairy shrimp
found in vernal pools on the 13-acre property. A recent
federal court ruling halting developments in San Diego that
affect the region's rapidly vanishing vernal pools has
complicated matters further.
February
10, 2007
City Council to vote on hotel near lagoon
OCEANSIDE
– The Oceanside City Council will be faced with a battle
of the petitions Wednesday when it tries to decide the fate
of a vacant property bordering one of the area's prized
coastal lagoons.
January
31, 2007
Power plant starts Carlsbad sand-dredging effort at Agua
Hedionda Lagoon
CARLSBAD --
Beachgoers can expect more sand along Carlsbad's coastline
in the next several months, but they may want to wait for
the new stuff to dry out.
January
27, 2007
New trail opens at San Elijo Lagoon
ENCINITAS ---- A
new trail opened this week so that the disabled can use a
popular location to watch birds and commune with nature.
January
12, 2007
San Elijo Lagoon center gets permit
The state
Coastal Commission approved a permit yesterday allowing the
county to build a $3 million nature and visitors center at the
San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve in Encinitas.
December
31, 2006
Proposed hotel near Buena Vista lagoon redesigned
OCEANSIDE ---- A
developer with plans to build an 82-room hotel near the west
end of the Buena Vista Lagoon will seek approval from the
Oceanside City Council in February, with the understanding
that the project would be built with a different design.
December 3, 2006
Lagoon conservancy weighs free-play areas
ENCINITAS ----
Enough of the "look but don't touch" philosophy that
has been the norm for decades, says San Elijo Lagoon
Conservancy's executive director, Doug Gibson.
November
9, 2006
Lagoon on path to 3-year restoration
DEL MAR – You
can see them from northbound Interstate 5 near Via de la
Valle. About 20 workers and 15 pieces of heavy equipment are
rearranging the landscape as part of the first phase of a
three-year, $86 million restoration of the San Dieguito
Lagoon.
October
2, 2006
Trashing the border
A stew of sewage
and toxins that puts surfers and swimmers at risk of disease
closed beaches north of the metal barrier dividing Tijuana,
Mexico, from San Diego for more than 80 days last year. Eroded
earth is smothering plant life and destroying the fragile
Tijuana Estuary, one of California's last salt marshes and an
important filter for water flowing into the Pacific Ocean.
September
30, 2006
Cleanup of canyon in Tijuana is focus of cross-border pact
For California,
the major aim is to protect the Tijuana River estuary in
Imperial Beach, an important wetland at the mouth of the
Tijuana River that is managed by the California Department of
Parks and Recreation.
September
13, 2006
Wetlands fix-up may have downside
The recent
restoration of the Bolsa Chica wetlands may be killing off a
grove of eucalyptus trees that appears to be under attack by
seawater that has been allowed to flow back into a far corner
of the marshlands.
August
30, 2006
Believe it! Work's set to start on San Dieguito Lagoon
DEL
MAR – After 15 years of planning and two years waiting for a
passel of local, state and federal agencies to issue the
dozens of permits required – not to mention the nesting
birds that couldn't be disturbed – work is set to begin on
an $86 million overhaul of the San Dieguito Lagoon.
August
25, 2006
Bolsa Chica wetlands and the Pacific meet again
The marshland
restoration effort takes a major step with the opening of an
inlet to bring in seawater.
August
10, 2006
Nonprofit
gets 2 grants for wetlands
IMPERIAL BEACH
– A local nonprofit group whose goal is to protect and
restore area wetlands has received two grants totaling $65,400
for projects in the Tijuana estuary.
July
31, 2006
O.C.
wetlands to finally reunite with the sea
When bulldozers
finally smash through the wall of sand separating the Pacific
from the Bolsa Chica wetlands, allowing millions of gallons of
seawater to rush into the marsh for the first time in 107
years, a hard-core group of supporters will be on hand to
cheer.
July 30, 2006
Long
Beach-area wetlands may join Southland's 'string of pearls'
The Los Cerritos
wetlands looks like a mall waiting to happen. The dusty
expanse of oil pumps and cracked earth is flanked by stores,
multiplexes and parked cars. Above it all rises the red and
yellow turret of Tower Records, topped with a giant purple
neon sign reading, "Wow!"
July
13, 2006
DANIEL
WEINTRAUB
A
one-stop shop for nurturing new wetlands
Julie Vandermost
once made her living helping builders put up houses, offices
and factories. Now she does it by helping them make up for the
damage they do to the environment.
July
12, 2006
Agua
Hedionda free of invasive seaweed
CARLSBAD – Six
years after an invasive seaweed threatened to take over Agua
Hedionda Lagoon and spread to the ocean, the team that battled
the species has declared victory.
July
3, 2006
EDITORIAL
Wet
and fuzzy
Wetlands ruling
shows need for clearer law.
June
19, 2006
Supreme
Court justices show support for wetlands protection
WASHINGTON -- A
divided Supreme Court today upheld the broad power of federal
environmental regulators to protect most wetlands from
development, even in areas that are dry much of the year.
April
10, 2006
Council
to consider extending lagoon restrictions
CARLSBAD ---- A
proposal to extend the ban on boats anchoring or creating high
wakes in Agua Hedionda Lagoon will go before the City Council
on Tuesday. If the council approves the recommendation put
forward by the Southern California Caulerpa Action Team, the
restrictions would be extended until June 30, 2007, a city
staff report states.
March
31, 2006
Wetlands
reverse long decline -- if golf course ponds count
WASHINGTON —
More people building ponds for golf courses and subdivisions
or to retain stormwater and wastewater helped create the
nation's first net gain in wetlands in a half-century of
government record-keeping.
March
19, 2006
San
Dieguito Lagoon restoration start near; planned for 15 years
DEL MAR – The
San Dieguito Lagoon is scheduled for a long-delayed overhaul.
The aim is to restore the faltering wetland into a thriving
coastal habitat after years of encroachment by the Del Mar
Fairgrounds, a shopping center, an abandoned airfield, an
interstate highway and acres of tomato fields.
January
1, 2006
Lagoon
has long captivated San Diegans
DEL MAR –
Evidence of humans living around the San Dieguito Lagoon goes
back to about 9000 B.C. Artifacts indicate that the first
known inhabitants used spears to hunt horses, mastodons and
waterfowl.
December
22, 2005
103
acres added to Bolsa Chica Reserve
The last major
acquisition for the Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington Beach
was made Wednesday when the state bought 103 acres that
activists had sought for more than a decade to preserve.
November 13, 2005
No
sentiment for sediment
Lagoons along
the North County coast that are crossed by Interstate 5 may
find an unlikely ally in Caltrans when the agency widens the
freeway.
October
12, 2005
High
court will review regulation of wetlands
WASHINGTON –
The Supreme Court set the stage yesterday for what could be a
landmark ruling on government authority to regulate wetlands
and control pollution, giving Chief Justice John Roberts his
first chance to weigh in on limiting federal regulation of
property rights.
October
3, 2005
Oceanside
to weigh options on lagoon restoration
Three major
alternatives are being considered for restoration of the
236-acre, freshwater lagoon. They involve keeping the lagoon
as freshwater, excavating enough sediment to open the lagoon
to tidal flows and turn it into a saltwater lagoon, or having
a mixture of salt and freshwater.
September
25, 2005
Port
may help L.A. marshes
The Port of Los
Angeles has spent more than $100 million in recent years to
restore coastal marshes in Orange and San Diego counties,
rankling Los Angeles-area conservationists struggling to save
remnants of endangered wetlands closer to home.
September
8, 2005
$2.75
million project will rebuild San Elijo Lagoon visitors center
ENCINITAS
– San Elijo Lagoon, one of the county's largest coastal
wetlands, is getting a new, state-of-the-art visitors center."
August
24, 2005
Long
Beach, L.A. ports may boost aid to Bolsa Chica wetlands
project
State and
federal agencies charged with restoring the 1,100-acre Bolsa
Chica wetlands in Huntington Beach are seeking an additional
$23 million in public funds for the massive project, one of
the largest of its kind in state history."
Dredging
OKd for Newport's Upper Bay
Orange County
supervisors approved a $38-million dredging project Tuesday
that is designed to prevent mud-choked Upper Newport Bay from
turning into a meadow."
July
30, 2005
A
wetland threat
OCEANSIDE –
The six-member panel had a bulky title for its informational
program, "Restoring Nature to Reduce Mosquitoes: Can
Wetlands Restoration Design and Management Lower West Nile
Virus Transmission?"
July
20, 2005
Watershed
project kicks off in Carlsbad
CARLSBAD -- As
part of California Weed Awareness Week, the Carlsbad Watershed
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