Wetlands Issues News


December 23, 2008
State budget crisis halts wetlands work
California's budget crisis has caused a shutdown of wetlands recovery
projects in five Southern California counties. San Diego County is
especially hard hit because it has more wetlands than the others.

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 Network ---- a coalition of nonprofit organizations, natural resource agencies and municipalities ---- launched a new project to encourage residents to remove invasive weeds from their property.

April 25, 2005
O.C.'s wetlands are still at risk
On the surface, the 30-year battle to save the Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington Beach from development appears to be near an end.

March 12, 2005
Giant reeds clog Encinitas waterways
ENCINITAS – Giant reeds are choking waterways across North County, and in a final push to remove them last week, chain saw-wielding workers hacked through thickets growing at San Elijo Lagoon in Encinitas.

January 26, 2005
Council agrees to sell wetlands acreage
The Oxnard City Council voted on Tuesday to sell its share of 276 acres of Ormond Beach property to the Coastal Conservancy.

January 7, 2005
Citing costs, U.S. trims critical habitat for Santa ana Sucker
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has eliminated critical habitat for the endangered Santa Ana sucker fish in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, saying the economic benefits of the new plan outweigh the benefits to the fish.

January 4, 2005
Officials: Wetlands project on schedule despite rains
ENCINITAS – Heavy rains have transformed the San Diego County Water Authority's wetlands creation project into a massive mud bog, but officials said Tuesday that the $1.1 million job remains on schedule.

December 22, 2004
Official: Lagoon fire was set, but caused little environmental harm
OCEANSIDE – Someone set a fire that burned 20 acres of reeds in the Buena Vista Lagoon, a fire investigator said Thursday. Wednesday's blaze scorched the tops of reeds which grow in the water on the northwest edge of the sparkling lagoon between Interstate 5 and Coast Highway 101 on the Oceanside-Carlsbad border.

December 11, 2004
'Killer Algae' war almost a wrap, except for the plastic
Four years after the first plastic tarps were placed on the ocean floor in Huntington Harbour in Huntington Beach and a Carlsbad lagoon in hopes of eradicating an invasive species known as "killer algae," marine biologists hope to soon declare victory. But now they have a new problem: If they remove the tarps, as planned, they will kill a new ecosystem of eelgrass, sea sponges and clams that have grown on top of the plastic.

December 10, 2004
UC's wetlands thriving as neighboring site draws fire
Two years ago, the University of California excavated the contaminated mud from its Richmond Field Station marshland, trucked it off to a class 2 dump site, and replaced it with clean mud from Martinez.

November 23, 2004
Santa Barbara County loses $5.5 million land-use case
SANTA MARIA (AP) – Jurors decided a wetlands designation imposed by Santa Barbara County violated the rights of an Orcutt vegetable grower so the county must pay about $5.5 million to the farmer.

November 19, 2004
Plan to protect seasonal pools
The federal government released an ambitious plan Thursday to save 20 endangered and threatened plants and animals, including the tiny fairy shrimp, found only in vernal pools in California and southern Oregon.

November 10, 2004
Questions surround lagoon restoration plans
Residents greeted Malibu Lagoon restoration plans with widely varied reactions last week, with some saying a proposal to dredge large portions of the over-vegetated water body would destroy marine life, while others called it the first baby step toward detoxifying the water.

November 7, 2004
County officials watching waste line
ENCINITAS – As an 8-acre wetlands creation project proceeded near San Elijo Lagoon last week, county parks officials expressed concerns over a sewer pipe planned to cross the project area.

November 5, 2004
Livermore workshop on saving vernal pools
Hidden in valleys and foothills in 30 California counties, the ponds need protection to ensure that their already dwindling numbers don't continue to fall because of development, overgrazing and other threats. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is holding public workshops next week, including one in Livermore on Tuesday, to discuss its draft vernal pools recovery plan, which will be released Nov. 15.

October 17, 2004
Water Authority to create wetland in San Elijo Lagoon Reserve
ENCINITAS – Workers this week will dig the first scoops of a massive excavation project to restore 8 acres of wetlands at San Elijo Lagoon Reserve. The San Diego County Water Authority is paying $1 million for the restoration to compensate for environmental damage the agency has caused by building reservoirs, dams and pipelines as part of the regional Emergency Storage Project.

October 10, 2004
A new life for Bolsa Chica
In 1980, the real estate arm of Signal Oil Co. revealed its grand vision for Bolsa Chica, a huge salt marsh in Huntington Beach that was dotted with nodding oil rigs and polluted by urban runoff.

October 7, 2004
Project begins to restore Bolsa Chica
After a 30-year fight to save the Bolsa Chica wetlands from development, work began Wednesday on a $65-million project to restore the degraded salt marsh where builders once hoped to construct marinas and thousands of homes.

October 6, 2004
Wetlands buy at finish line
Funding for the acquisition of baylands near Highway 37, including a site formerly planned for a casino, is all but secured after a $7.9 million grant was awarded yesterday to the Sonoma Land Trust.

Lagoon project nearly done; threatened species safe for now
An ambitious-turned-controversial project to restore the Carmel River Lagoon to its natural state is nearly complete and two threatened species in the area are out of danger, for the time being.

September 23, 2004
Completion of Playa Vista OKd
After more than two decades of debate and delays, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday gave its blessing to the final piece of the massive Playa Vista development despite protests that the project would worsen Westside traffic gridlock and harm the environment.

September 20, 2004
Planning for lagoon rescue moving ahead
OCEANSIDE – State agency officials and consultants on Monday said they are moving ahead with efforts to develop a plan to save the lagoon between Oceanside and Carlsbad from extinction.

September 9, 2004
Bolsa Chica land nearly set for sale
Setting the stage for selling a crucial piece of property to the state for inclusion in the environmentally sensitive Bolsa Chica Mesa, the Ocean View School District has declared 15 acres of the mesa it owns as surplus property.

September 8, 2004
Contruction set to begin on Southern California's largest wetland restoration project
HUNTINGTON BEACH – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has executed contracts with Kiewit Pacific Company and Moffatt & Nichol Engineering in anticipation of starting construction on the Bolsa Chica Wetland Restoration Project.

August 21, 2004: Oil pipeline owner failed inspections
The owner of a pipeline that spilled 85,000 gallons of diesel fuel into Suisun Marsh in April has on at least two occasions failed inspections designed to determine how well the company responds to oil spills, documents show.

August 9, 2004: Bolsa Chica delay sought
A developer has asked the California Coastal Commission to postpone a Thursday hearing on its proposal to build 379 homes on a mesa overlooking the Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington Beach after the agency's staff recommended the development be rejected.

July 25, 2004: Activists save steelhead from Carmel lagoon restoration
CARMEL (AP) – Efforts by the state to restore a lagoon to its natural condition threatened to kill thousands of steelhead trout until local activists bypassed government agencies and rented equipment to save the federally protected fish.

July 22, 2004: Lagoon restoration is topic of workshop
ENCINITAS – San Elijo Lagoon is filling up with silt, and if that continues, valuable mud flats would be consumed by pickleweed, the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy's executive director said Thursday.

July 19, 2004: Lagoon foundation urges choice be made on lagoon plan
OCEANSIDE – The president of a nonprofit organization formed 20 years ago to protect and restore Buena Vista Lagoon said Monday that his group is urging consultants and environmental agencies to pick a plan quickly so the process doesn't get bogged down in more studies.

July 18, 2004: Wetlands return to nature
Behind locked gates leading to the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, federal biologists will quietly set in motion Monday one of the nation's most ambitious projects to return developed wetlands to nature.

July 16, 2004: Council set to OK sewer line easement
ENCINITAS – The City Council on Wednesday is slated to consider a private school's offer to purchase a sewer easement that crosses a wetland; it's an offer a local environmental group says the council should refuse.


July 9, 2004: Panel OKs Phase 2 of Playa Vista
Over lingering objections from opponents, the Los Angeles Planning Commission voted Thursday to approve the second phase of Playa Vista, the Westside's newest community and one of the city's oldest battlegrounds in the controversy over development.


July 2, 2004: Trust's Playa lawsuit rejected A Los Angeles judge has denied a request to halt excavation at the Playa Vista development, finding that the possible environmental impact of the work was considered by city officials when they approved the project a decade ago.


July 1, 2004: Deal would enhance Bolsa Chica HUNTINGTON BEACH – Capping a three-decade battle by environmentalists to preserve the Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington Beach, state officials said Wednesday that the owner of a 102-acre parcel next to the marshlands had agreed to sell the land to California for $65 million.


May 19, 2004: Lagoon conservancy protests school plans Encinitas – San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy has renewed its opposition to a private school's construction plans in a letter to its membership and the City Council.


May 19, 2004: Committee considers choices for Buena Vista Lagoon OCEANSIDE – Some scientists want salt water in Buena Vista Lagoon, while many other people prefer to keep it fresh water. But most would accept any kind of water, as long as the estuary didn't fill up with silt.


May 16, 2004: San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy nets 15 extra acres RANCHO SANTA FE - Local conservationists did a deal for Mother Nature on Sunday afternoon. At a private residence on the western edge of Rancho Santa Fe, members of the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy took possession of 15 acres known as the Van Liew Property.


April 21, 2004: River park purchasing inland, coastal land ESCONDIDO ---- The San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority has entered into purchase agreements to buy two key parcels, one near Del Mar and one near Escondido, in its continuing mission to create a 55-mile trail from the beach to the mountains near Julian.


April 6, 2004: State OKs Bolsa Chica project U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is granted a lease that will allow the $90-million restoration of the wetlands to begin, probably in October.


April 6, 2004: Supreme Court sidesteps wetlands disputes WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court rejected three cases Monday that sought to restrict the government's authority to regulate wetlands.


March  31, 2004: Government to fund wetlands study The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded a $250,000 grant Tuesday to assess the health of Northern California's wetlands.


March 27, 2004: Study offers hope for lagoon survival CARLSBAD - Leave the Buena Vista Lagoon to Mother Nature and a huge stretch of the lagoon east of Interstate 5 will vanish within 13 years under a solid mass of reeds and cattails ---- and the entire lagoon will disappear in 30 to 50 years ---- according to a draft of a study released Friday.


March 18, 2004: Lagoon restoration urged OCEANSIDE – It could cost as little as $35 million or as much as $112 million to restore the Buena Vista Lagoon.


March 15, 2004: Weeding out a dangerous problem on ocean's floor Biologists are cautiously celebrating the defeat of killer algae in Huntington Beach and in a San Diego County lagoon, the only places where it has been detected so far on the West Coast.


February 25, 2004: Scientists ask: Is killer-algae a victory? CARLSBAD ---- Scientists leading the effort to wipe out a dreaded noxious seaweed dubbed the "killer algae" said Tuesday they're cautiously optimistic they'll be able to declare victory at Agua Hedionda Lagoon and at Huntington Harbor in Orange County by the end of this year.


February 9, 2004: Required report slowing Playa development The draft environmental impact report for the second phase of the long-debated Playa Vista development has generated hundreds of questions or comments from activists, environmentalists and organizations.


February 5, 2004: Volunteers to tackle lagoon restoration CARLSBAD ---- The nonprofit Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation on Saturday will launch the first stage of what is expected to be a years-long project to clean out invading plants and restore the 186-acre ecological reserve to its natural state.


December 19, 2003: State to finalize its purchase of Ballona Wetlands With no official fanfare but a great deal of excitement on the part of coastal activists, the state is poised today to complete its $139-million purchase of the Ballona Wetlands from the owner of the Playa Vista development.


October 24, 2003: State sets aside wetlands funds Committing one-tenth of its remaining bond money to a single Ventura County project, the state Coastal Conservancy moved Thursday to restore one of Southern California's largest seaside wetlands by earmarking $23 million to buy at least 500 acres at Ormond Beach near Oxnard.


October 15, 2003: Powerboats are approved again for the Agua Hedionda Lagoon CARLSBAD - Powerboats and personal watercraft will once again be allowed in Agua Hedionda Lagoon, the City Council decided last night, because it appears the fast-spreading algae that invaded the area has been eradicated.


September 24, 2003: Carlsbad council OKs $80,000 grant Members of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation said Tuesday that they may finally be able to throw the doors open to their long-planned Discovery Center in the spring, thanks to a little help from the city.


September 18, 2003: Davis backs bills on Ballona Wetlands purchase and restoration Gov. Gray Davis on Wednesday signaled his support for the state's purchase of the Ballona Wetlands, saying he planned to sign two bills that would provide restoration funds and ensure state ownership of a 64-acre parcel next to the Playa Vista development.


September 17, 2003: Lagoon landing may be opened again in Carlsbad CARLSBAD - The lagoon landing that was closed to keep visitors from feeding the waterfowl may reopen this fall, this time patrolled by volunteers who will enforce the rules.


September 15, 2003: Environmental studies continue on hotel project OCEANSIDE ---- An environmental report for a downsized, luxury hotel and restaurant development near the shores of Buena Vista Lagoon should be completed by the end of this year or early next, an Oceanside official said Monday.


September 10, 2003: Changes on boationg restrictions eagerly awaited CARLSBAD - A small, upbeat group of about a dozen people greeted organizers of a Wednesday workshop on boating restriction changes at Agua Hedionda Lagoon. It was far different than workshops held three years ago when the invasive algae Caulerpa taxifolia was discovered in the lagoon.


September 3, 2003: Invasive East Coast plant threatens habitats in San Francisco Bay Environmental agencies are leading a campaign to stamp out a rapidly spreading marsh grass that threatens to destroy bird and plant habitats in
the San Francisco Bay.


August 20, 2003: Carlsbad officials to look into Encinitas proposal City officials made no promises Tuesday that they would help fund a 51-acre land preservation effort along Batiquitos Lagoon, but they told Encinitas representatives they would look into the idea. Encinitas officials are hoping to win a grant from the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project, a partnership of 17 federal and state agencies, to pay most of the purchase price.


August 16, 2003: Deal for Preserving Wetlands Is Near Negotiators for developer Playa Vista and the state were ironing out final details Friday of a long-anticipated deal under which California would acquire the 500 remaining acres of the Ballona Wetlands to be preserved as wetlands habitat and open space.


August 14, 2003: Aerial attack aims to abate mosquitoes SOLANA BEACH ---- The helicopter buzzing around San Elijo Lagoon on Wednesday behaved a lot like the mosquitoes it was targeting to kill.


August 8, 2003: County supervisor giving $40,000 to lagoon project 
DEL MAR -- County Supervisor Pam Slater [a member of CalCoast's executive committee] will contribute $40,000 to help pay to open the mouth of San Dieguito Lagoon, a wetland habitat closed to ocean tide flow since spring.


August 5, 2003: Go-ahead to open river mouth upsets Del Mar homeowners
A state appeal court yesterday jump-started a multimillion-dollar wetland restoration project that would open the mouth of the San Dieguito River in Del Mar against the wishes of nearby homeowners.


July 31, 2003: Late budget deal may help preserve Bolsa Chica wetlands It was hours into budget negotiations Monday when the governor's finance director, Steve Peace, approached Assemblyman Tom Harman, a moderate Republican from Huntington Beach, with a question: What would it take to get him to vote for the budget?


July 22, 2003: Buena Vista Lagoon tests sparkling clean CARLSBAD ---- Researchers developing a plan to restore Buena Vista Lagoon have come up with startling results showing there is no contamination of the lagoon bottom to prompt environmental concerns.


July 15, 2003: Del Mar river project heard at appeals court Monday's arguments conclude a full year of written arguments between the parties, which include the San Dieguito River Joint Powers Authority, steward of the waterway; residents of the multimillion-dollar houses along Sandy Lane; and Southern California Edison.


July 13, 2003: At Last, a Plan for Wetlands The restoration promises an increasingly rare gift in a state that has lost an estimated 95% of its historical coastal wetlands to development.


June 27, 2003: Long-Awaited work set at Bolsa Chica Jack Fancher, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, unveiled details of the project to the public at a meeting Wednesday in Huntington Beach's main library. Afterward, representatives of the eight state and federal agencies that make up the restoration steering committee answered questions from an overflow audience of residents and environmentalists from Amigos de Bolsa Chica, the Bolsa Chica Land Trust and Bolsa Chica Conservancy.


June 5, 2003: Prices threaten Ballona plans Spiraling real estate prices could jeopardize the state of California's plan to purchase and restore a large segment of Los Angeles County's last significant wetlands, according to developers who would give up their bid to build on the land.


April 26, 2003: Plans offered to save Buena Vista Lagoon CARLSBAD - A few decades ago, the lagoon spanning the border of Carlsbad and Oceanside was thriving. Today, it is dying. A few decades from now, experts say, it may be a bog, and migrating freshwater fowl such as herons, cormorants and the endangered Belding's savannah sparrow will scratch it off their itineraries forever.


April 18, 2003: A patch of blue at Playa Vista Coots, white egrets, hummingbirds and great blue herons lately have made a springtime home of a freshwater marsh created by the builders of the Playa Vista development near Marina del Rey.


April 18, 2003: Scientists say second survey finds no signs of 'killer algae' CARLSBAD ---- A team of scientists from federal, state and regional agencies reported Thursday that a second survey of Agua Hedionda Lagoon has detected no sign of the dreaded seaweed known as "killer algae."


April 9, 2003: Conservancy to buy Oxnard wetlands tract Preservationists won a major victory Tuesday in their 20-year effort to create a wetlands preserve at Ormond Beach when Metropolitan Water District officials voted to begin negotiating the sale of a key parcel to the state Coastal Conservancy.


March 6, 2003: From dump to destination This week, public wildlife agencies will finally acquire more than 16,000 acres of salt evaporator ponds in the San Francisco Bay and begin working to restore healthy wetlands there.


February 25, 2003: Kelp is flourishing, for now, on artificial reef near power plant SAN CLEMENTE - Giant kelp is growing well on a 20-acre artificial reef made  of recycled concrete and quarry rock offshore here, but scientists say it is too early to tell if the kelp beds will survive.


February 21, 2003: Finally, an end to San Elijo billboards ENCINITAS ---- As the business end of a large yellow excavator crunched into a billboard standing by the mouth of San Elijo Lagoon, a crowd of onlookers started clapping and hooting, while passing drivers honked their car horns in encouragement. "Yeah!," yelled Doug Gibson, executive director of the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy.


February 12, 2003: Deal to restore salt ponds to wetlands wins approval OAKLAND -- After months of negotiations, a state commission Tuesday granted approval for the sale of 16,500 acres of Bay Area salt ponds to state and federal governments for conversion into wetlands.


January 20, 2003: California joins global assault on killer seaweed Dubbed the "killer algae" by European scientists, Caulerpa taxifolia seems to know no bounds. Prized by aquarium owners as an ornamental plant, the seaweed has been unwittingly spread from its home in the tropical Pacific to Europe, Australia and, most recently, Southern California, where authorities are trying to snuff it out before it takes over everything.


January 15, 2003: Alternatives studied for Buena Vista Lagoon Southern California's only freshwater lagoon could revert to its original saltwater state under one of several alternatives being studied. Buena Vista Lagoon, which separates coastal Oceanside from Carlsbad, could contain fresh, brackish or salt water in the future, said David G. Cannon, president and principal engineer of Everest International Consultants, Inc.


January 2, 2003: Birds of passage ENCINITAS - Coastal residents looking at the skies above Interstate 5 and Manchester Avenue have a bird's-eye view of a more welcomed form of gridlock this time of the year, as thousands of birds travel along the Pacific Flyway to winter at the San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve.


December 27, 2002: Adminstration's watershed plan calls for 'no net loss' of  wetlands WASHINGTON – The Bush administration adopted a plan and guidelines yesterday for replacing swamps and bogs that have been filled or drained to make way for highways, housing or other projects. Administration officials said the plan, based on input from six agencies, won't diminish the role of wetlands in providing
habitat to wildlife, flood control and water quality.


December 11, 2002: Scientists report no sign of "killer algae" A team of federal, state and regional agency scientists told the Carlsbad City Council on Tuesday that a survey of Agua Hedionda Lagoon has turned up no sign of the dreaded "killer algae" for the first time in more than two years.


November 22, 2002: Birds could benefit from dredging job CARLSBAD - The sand will be moved to three nesting islands to help the California least tern, an endangered species, and the Western snowy plover, a federally threatened species. The work should help the birds for years to come.


November 20, 2002: EPA chief Whitman praises Antioch wetlands preserve  
ANTIOCH - The Tuesday morning skies greeting Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman in Antioch were as blue as if she had ordered them herself. Whitman launched the California component of the Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership at the Dow Wetlands Preserve, a 471-acre former dumping ground that now is a suburban wildlife oasis.


November 1, 2002: Petaluma gets $2 million grant for wetlands restoration project The state Coastal Conservancy on Thursday gave Petaluma $2 million for a wetlands restoration project. The money is earmarked for a 336-acre park to be built between Lakeville Highway and the Petaluma River east of town as part of the city's plan for a new sewage treatment plant.