Panel to Fund Batiquitos Lagoon Study

The state Coastal Conservancy on Thursday allocated $40,000 to finance a study to enhance Carlsbad’s Batiquitos Lagoon, an action that Carlsbad environmentalists heralded as an important step toward the eventual restoration of the resource.

The conservancy board, meeting in Sacramento, unanimously approved the funding request for a six-month study and blueprint for enhancing the wide and shallow lagoon.

“We’re delighted and very excited that this study will be getting under way,” said Bill Dean, president of the nonprofit Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation. “I expect the conservancy will come up with a plan that everybody--developers and the community at large--can support.”

Studies of the biology, hydrology and wildlife at the 526-acre lagoon have been conducted, and the City of Carlsbad recently completed a land-use plan for the lagoon’s shores. But a comprehensive report on Batiquitos and alternatives for enhancing its ecological and scenic value has never been done, said Laurie Marcus, a Coastal Conservancy analyst working on the Batiquitos project.

Further, although all sides seem to believe that enhancement of the lagoon is needed, there has been little agreement on just what should be done. Dirtied with sedimentation from construction in the area, the Batiquitos has a tendency to dry up and smell in the summertime.

“There are all sorts of conflicting ideas and opinions out there about what’s going on at the lagoon, what’s best for the lagoon, what it should look like and what should be emphasized in terms of enhancement,” Marcus said. “Hopefully, this study can tie together all the different interests and help us achieve our main objective, which is doing what’s best for the environment.”

Among enhancement proposals already on the table are two by the major landowners in the area: Texas oil and silver magnates Nelson Bunker and W. Herbert Hunt, who plan to build a sprawling resort and residential community on the northeastern shore of the lagoon, and Sammis Properties of San Diego, which plans to develop 160 acres overlooking the western bays of Batiquitos.

The Hunts have proposed pumping seawater into the lagoon’s eastern bay andmaintaining a stable water level through the use of a floatable dam, while Sammis officials would like to reopen the mouth of Batiquitos to the ocean. Sammis has hired researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography to investigate the impact that tidal action would have on the lagoon and to explore methods to keep the lagoon mouth open.

The Leucadia County Water District, meanwhile, is studying the possibility of pumping treated waste water into the lagoon. Marcus said the study will examine all three of those proposals and formulate other alternatives as well.

Since January, the conservancy has attempted to coordinate work on the lagoon and collect input for the study at regular meetings with the major landowners in the area, representatives of the Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation, Carlsbad city planners and officials with various other agencies.

A small state agency funded primarily with bond money, the Coastal Conservancy awards grants for wetland restoration projects and has assisted with enhancement efforts at San Dieguito, Los Penasquitos and Buena Vista lagoons.

Marcus said the hydrologists and biologists who conduct the Batiquitos study will come with a series of enhancement alternatives and examine their feasibility, their costs and their impacts on the lagoon. After consultations with various federal, state and local agencies, one alternative will be selected and presented to the conservancy board for approval. The city of Carlsbad and the state Coastal Commission must also approve the enhancement plan.

While funding for the study is an important first step, Marcus said that the more critical question of who will pay to actually enhance and maintain the resource remains unanswered. She speculated that restoration of the lagoon will involve both public and private financing.