Huntington Beach : Consultant Hired for Wetlands Restoration

The Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy has hired a consulting firm to plan the restoration of 17 acres of wetlands near the mouth of the Santa Ana River.

Conservancy board chairman Gary C. Gorman said a $40,000 grant from the state Coastal Conservancy will be used to pay the San Francisco firm of Phil Williams & Associates and its team of specialists for plans to return the area to fully functioning wetlands.

Restoration is tentatively expected to cost about $2 million and is to be done as part of the county’s construction work on the Talbert Valley Flood Control Channel, said conservancy board member Gordon K. Smith.

The conservancy, formed as a nonprofit land trust last year, is the first such non-governmental organization formed to acquire, restore and manage a coastal wetlands area. It is affiliated with Friends of the Huntington Beach Wetlands, a political action support group of about 75 members formed eight months ago to preserve wetland areas.

Gorman said the group’s ultimate goal is to restore a total of 150 acres of wetlands stretching inland along Pacific Coast Highway from the river mouth northward to Beach Boulevard.

The conservancy expects to gain title to the property late this year as part of ongoing negotiations between Caltrans and coastal officials over a proposed widening of Pacific Coast Highway. With plans due from the consultant by Jan. 1, 1987, Smith said the group is optimistic that the wetlands can be fully restored by late 1987.