Pressures of Progress : Upper Newport Bay Struggles for Survival in Urban Setting

Surrounded by highways and within view of office buildings, the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve at the heart of this oceanside city is only a remnant of wetlands that once stretched north into Tustin.

On weekends, bicyclists and runners follow the two-mile trail that gently curves along the bay beside scenic bluffs, steep cliffs and shallow mud flats. Nature lovers come to glimpse rare, endangered birds such as the brown pelican and the California least tern.

The 752-acre ecological reserve has an air of tranquillity, but it belies a constant struggle for the area to survive against the forces of civilization.

Parts of the bay are covered by rampant algae growth caused by fertilizer deposits. Litter is left behind by visitors and is often washed down channels. And while bicyclists or hikers who trek the hills praise the reserve’s beauty, they are unwittingly a part of its deterioration.

It is a challenging task to curb the impact of a growing population and the estimated 2 million visitors who flock to the reserve each year, says a local coalition of state and local interests that manages the bay.

“What we’re trying to do is to hold the area at a certain state of (environmental) succession,” said Earl M. Lauppe, wildlife management supervisor for the state Department of Fish and Game. “If man wasn’t here, it’d take millions of years to change a deep waterway into a marsh.”

While at least one problem--excessive silt flowing into the bay--has been largely solved, preservationists must still combat other environmental difficulties.

“There is an excessive amount of nutrients--phosphates, nitrogen, fertilizers--from residential run-off and agriculture that causes algae to blossom like crazy,” said Bruce Paine of the Southern California Water Quality Board. “Algae depletes water of oxygen which fish need.”

Recently, the Army Corps of Engineers, which has built channels in Lower Newport Bay, began a one-year study of the impact of sediment deposits in Upper Newport Bay. The corps will also investigate how the environment and recreational navigation could be improved, said Pam Castens, a corps planning section chief in Los Angeles.

According to the federal Water Resources Development Act of 1986, the corps is authorized to consider dredging and maintaining a 250-foot-wide channel that would stretch from the Coast Highway bridge to the southern boundary of the reserve.

If the preliminary study produces favorable results, a two-year feasibility study will be undertaken. After that, Congress would have to approve construction funds and it would be at least three years before work would begin, she said.

But at a public meeting last week to solicit information, Castens said Congress would be unlikely to approve those funds if the project is not aimed at solving problems of storm damage, flood control and commercial navigation.

Although Castens repeatedly warned the audience that the preliminary study guaranteed no results, Frank Robinson, a Newport resident who is an active supporter of the bay, was optimistic about the project.

“You got to keep the faith,” he said. “We worked on this for so many years and the bay gets supporters, and more and more interest. And that’s what moves the whole political machine, isn’t it?”

When the Irvine Co. sought to develop a marina and housing along the bay in the 1960s, Robinson, 73, and his wife, Frances, circulated petitions and organized a protest. After numerous court hearings, the state finally purchased Upper Newport Bay and designated it a wildlife haven in 1975.

“Attention to the environment and protection by wildlife protection agencies and the government has been growing,” said John Anderson of the Department of Fish and Game. “Our knowledge and awareness has been greatly expanded.”

The most recent dredging effort, which began in 1980, illustrates the joint effort shown by state, local and private agencies. The great concern at that time was silt, a fine sediment that clogs water flow.

The Department of Fish and Game, Orange County, the cities of Irvine and Newport Beach and the Irvine Co. conducted a three-phase program in which basins and channels were dug to collect sediment and improve tidal flow and islands were constructed as nesting sites for the California least tern, at a combined cost of $14.2 million.

The bay, which once drained about 14 square miles of land, now receives run-off water from about 150 square miles. Its two greatest sources are the San Diego Creek and the Santa Ana Delhi channel, said Lane Waldner, supervisor of environmental resources for the county Flood Control Center.

Since the majority of the project was completed in 1988, the flow of silt has largely been controlled, said John Wolter, cooperative project engineer for Newport Beach.

However, many residents who attended the public hearing last week called for a new dredging project to begin immediately, since silt has built up in parts of the bay in recent years because of heavy storms that have brought extra soil from the feeder channels.

Further public hearings on the dredging project are planned in coming months, according to corps officials.

Important Habitat Under Study

Surrounding development has put pressures on the 752-acre Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve. An Army Corps of Engineers has begun a study to examine sedimentation problems in the bay. Light-footed Clapper Rail

More than half the state’s population of this endangered sedentary marsh bird lives in the dense cordgrass of the Bay. Two other birds found at the bay are the California Least Tern and the Brown Pelican. Impacts on the Bay

Silt: Urban development has caused more silt to flow into the bay. Without existing dredging and control methods, silt would choke the bay and make it dry up.

Algae growth: Fertilizers washed into the bay from upstream sources encourages algae growth. Algae consumes oxygen in water, which fish need.

Litter: A clean-up staff regularly clears the bay of paper, plastic and other type of letter that acccumulates.

People impact: Bicyclists and hikers that leave designated trails, causing soil damage.

Source: California Department of Fish and Game

Researched by ROSE KIM and DANNY SULLIVAN / Los Angeles Times