Wetlands Restoration Vital to Chain of Life

It is always encouraging to see efforts to prevent the further loss of irreplaceable coastal wetlands, but an Orange County group is taking its concern for the wetlands one significant step beyond that. It is restoring bone-dry former marsh to productive use.

Thanks to the efforts of the Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy, the restoration is taking place at the 24-acre Talbert Marsh on Pacific Coast Highway above the mouth of the Santa Ana River in Huntington Beach.

It is a unique effort. Never before in Orange County has a wetlands restoration project been turned over to a private nonprofit group to maintain. But next month the conservancy, which has been managing the restoration, will become the legal owner of the marsh and will also take over its maintenance. The conservancy is also thinking about restoring another marsh about six times larger farther up the coast between Brookhurst Street and Beach Boulevard.

Wetlands in California, and the county, have been steadily vanishing. One state report estimated that 80% of California’s original 263,000 acres of coastal wetlands have been lost since 1850, the result of growth and farming. It is a trend that must be reversed.

Wetlands are not just pleasing to the eye. They play a vital role in the the natural environment by, among other things, serving as a nesting place for birds, a spawning ground for fish and even providing some flood control protection.

State biologists are hoping that Talbert Marsh will come back as a feeding ground for a variety of wildlife, including endangered bird species like the California least tern, light-footed clapper rail and Belding’s savannah sparrow. If the marsh responds to the redevelopment effort, it should again be providing plant, insect and fish life to help support the migrating birds.

There is no guarantee that the restoration project will be the success that environmentalists and biologists hope for, but the attempt is well worth the effort.

Originally, there were more than 3,000 acres of natural wetlands in the area near the mouth of the Santa Ana River. Most of those marshes were lost to development and flood control projects.

The Talbert Marsh has been dormant since it was walled off from the ocean by a flood control channel nearly 40 years ago. Its restoration is the result of about 5 years of effort that involved eight separate agencies. It is a model of public and private cooperation for others to follow.

What is left of the invaluable wetlands must be protected. But the lead of the conservancy in Huntington Beach should be followed where it can be. As many acres as possible of former wetlands now lying barren should be restored to their natural state as a vital part of nature’s life chain.