Lagoon Project Wins Approval

An ambitious plan to increase Batiquitos Lagoon’s value as a wildlife habitat by dredging millions of cubic yards of sediment from its shallow floor was approved Tuesday by the California Coastal Commission.

The approval of the so-called “Blue Lagoon” plan was a clear victory for the city of Carlsbad, which had proposed that more than 3.7 million cubic yards of sediment be dredged from the 600-acre wetlands area to maintain an open flow of cleansing seawater.

The federal government and some environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, had backed a less-ambitions plan that would have dredged less sediment from the lagoon, leaving more mud flats that are known foraging and breeding habitats for several waterfowl species.

Board members also voted to drop a set of conditions that would have required the city to monitor the sediment that collected after the dredging project was completed.

“The city got most of what it wanted,” said Paul Webb, a planner for the Coastal Commission. “The condition most troubling to the city involved the future sediment control facility, and that failed to pass.”

The approved plan, known as Mitigated Plan A, carried a dozen other conditions that required the city to provide revegetation following the $30-million dredging project, which is set to begin next year.

The city also is required to provide special protection for at least two endangered bird species that now nest in the lagoon--the California least tern and the Belding’s savannah sparrow.

Environmentalists have said that dredging too much of the lagoon would destroy current bird breeding and nesting areas in an effort to create new habitats. Local residents preferred the more ambitious plan that will eventually leave fewer exposed mud flats during low tide--areas that many consider unsightly.

Webb said the alternative plan, known as Mitigated Plan B, was favored by U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the National Marine Fisheries services--as well as the coastal commission staff--as a middle-of-the-road approach.

“We favored Mitigated Plan B, which we felt would have developed a greater species diversity but sparing more breeding grounds,” Webb said. “As has been said, in this case, the Coastal Commission staff preferred mud over deep water.”

The dredging project proposed by the city is designed to restore tidal flushing to the lagoon and includes the construction of twin jetties at the lagoon’s mouth to form a permanent tidal inlet.

Scientists and engineers who have studied the lagoon say several choke points, including bridges supporting the Santa Fe Railroad, Carlsbad Boulevard and Interstate 5, have prevented tidal flooding by causing the lagoon to fill with sandy sediment.

The sediment has built up at the mouth of the lagoon since the early 1980s and has shut off water access to the ocean, leaving behind a floor of cobblestones with little vegetation. With continued buildup, planners say, the lagoon will lose its ability to support habitats for its many wildlife species.

The project is being financed by the Port of Los Angeles because the port, which is expanding, is required by the state to make environmental improvements to an undeveloped coastal area outside its jurisdiction and has chosen Batiquitos Lagoon.

The sediment dredged from the lagoon will be used to replenish 2 miles of storm-damaged ocean beaches in Carlsbad--Encina Creek Beach to the north and Ponto Beach near the mouth of the lagoon, officials said.