Work Halted by State Officials : Pipe to Famosa Slough Nearly Blocked

Two men found damming up a culvert that feeds Famosa Slough were asked Friday morning by Coastal Commission and state Fish and Game Department representatives to stop until it could be determined who ordered the work and whether it is legal.

The slough, in Loma Portal near Ocean Beach, has been the subject of controversy for nearly a decade. The 20-acre marsh is the final remnant of the vast wetlands that included the mouth of the San Diego River and what is now Mission Bay.

The site, however, has long been cut off from tidal action by a flood gate that is, by law, supposed to remain closed. Nearby residents and interested environmentalists have surreptitiously opened the gates on occasion so birds may nest and feed in the slough’s plants.

Because neither Terry Sheldon, the developer of a proposed project to build condominiums on the wetland, nor his attorney could be reached Friday, no citations were issued, according to Paul Webb of the Coastal Commission.

The men were using cement to fill the opening of the culvert. Although the barrier will restrict water flow to the marshland, authorities said it would not be detrimental to the slough.

“At this point we’re going to contact our legal staff,” Webb said. “I don’t suspect that it would dry up within the next few days.”

The culvert, underneath West Point Loma Boulevard, connects the San Diego River channel to land that Sheldon has an option to develop. The Department of Fish and Game is investigating whether filling in the passageway violated state law, Webb said.

A bill sponsored by state Sens. Jim Ellis (R-San Diego) and Jim Costa (D-Fresno) will allow Sheldon to build 416 condominiums on 10 acres of the site, while the remaining 10 acres would be reclaimed as marshland. The Fish and Game Department and environmentalists prefer a plan that would restrict Sheldon’s development to only six acres.

Slough activists were angered by the filling of the passageway.

“It’s drying up,” said Debra Patla, a member of Friends of the Famosa Slough and the San Diego Society for the Preservation of Wetlands. “It’s sad to see the birds who were peaceful neighbors becoming more competitive as the food supply dries up.”