U.S. Agency Targets MWD in Inquiry : Environment: Grading at Lake Mathews, home to endangered species, was done without federal permission. Water district denies wrongdoing.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is under investigation for possible violations of federal environmental laws after removing about 30 acres of shrubbery and trees at a state ecological reserve that is home to bald eagles and other protected wildlife.

Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say the work at the Lake Mathews State Ecological Reserve in western Riverside County was done without federal permission, which is required when endangered species may be harmed.

The giant water import agency, which serves six counties, cleared Lake Mathews’ shoreline of vegetation to add to the lake’s capacity and maintain the quality of its water. The lake is a large reservoir created by MWD for storing Colorado River water that is delivered throughout the Los Angeles basin.

Greg Taylor, MWD’s executive assistant to the general manager, contended Wednesday that federal permission was unnecessary because his staff believes wildlife areas were left undisturbed, and the work was done mainly by hand with chainsaws and weeders, not bulldozers.

The grading, which is nearly complete, was first spotted in late December by two members of the National Audubon Society during an annual bird count.

“We were shocked. They’ve removed all the vegetation from the lake. Thousands, probably tens of thousands of trees,” said Larry LaPre, an environmental consultant and past president of the San Bernardino Valley chapter of the National Audubon Society.

“Lake Mathews is an ecological reserve and they took the ecological values out of it,” he said. “It’s where the eagles hung out and it was a shelter for birds. It’s the worst thing they could do to a reserve.”

Taylor, however, said the damage is being exaggerated. He said it is confined to a “narrow band” of the shoreline that is often under water anyway.

“The wildlife is still there. We saw one American bald eagle the other day, a blue heron, and all kinds of shorebirds in the lake and small birds in the brush around it. We haven’t disturbed them,” Taylor said.

“There’s over 3,000 acres of uplands we haven’t touched. . . . We took a lot of the brush out, but not a lot of trees,” he said.

The Lake Mathews area contains trees, shrubs and grassland that provide habitat for bald eagles and at least one other endangered species--the Stephens kangaroo rat, which occupies grasses near the shoreline, according to Fish and Wildlife Service biologists.

Also, some of the removed trees may have been suitable for the least Bell’s vireo, an endangered bird that migrates to Southern California in springtime, according to the biologists.

Fish and Wildlife Service biologist John Bradley said Wednesday that he has just begun to investigate whether the grading harmed endangered species, particularly the kangaroo rat. He added, however, that it will be “next to impossible” to tell now that the vegetation has been destroyed.

Bradley said he was surprised MWD didn’t consult with the wildlife agency, because the water agency has been cooperative in the past. MWD is “very much” aware of the laws regarding rare species and is funding studies of the kangaroo rat there, he said.

“Needless to say, the Service was upset there was no consultation,” Bradley said. “The reason we want a consultation is there’s always recommendations we can make that lead to avoiding or minimizing the impact on species.”

Taylor said MWD didn’t contact federal agencies because it had only a few months to clear the shoreline while the reservoir was drawn down. Instead, he said, MWD had its own biologists on site to ensure protection of wildlife.

“We didn’t have time to go through that process” of seeking permission, he said. “Quite frankly, our people felt it was very important to get this work done. We were trying to take advantage of the time when the reservoir was drawn down. . . . This reservoir serves 14 million people and without it, Southern California would be in trouble.”

Three years ago in Orange County, MWD was charged with felony and misdemeanor violations of state environmental laws. The water agency had an illegal plumbing system at a Yorba Linda treatment plant that caused a caustic chemical to flow into a creek at Chino Hills State Park, where it injured six cyclists. MWD paid a $250,000 settlement.

In the Lake Mathews case, Bruce Henderson, a project manager with the Army Corps of Engineers, said the corps is also investigating whether MWD violated a second environmental law. But he said that MWD apparently used a loophole that allows clearing by hand to comply with the federal Clean Water Act, which protects wetlands and other waterways.

Wardens for the state wildlife agency that owns the ecological reserve--the Department of Fish and Game--also started an investigation, but then dropped it.

Fred Worthley, regional director of the state wildlife agency, said he directed his staff to end the investigation after meeting with top MWD officials and reviewing a 1979 agreement between the state and water agency that gives MWD the right to maintain Lake Mathews.

“I can’t say there wasn’t any (ecological damage), but I’m not going to get particularly excited about it because as far as I’m concerned, Met could do that as part of that agreement. . . . It was within its rights to do that,” Worthley said.

However, some environmentalists said they believe Worthley gave in to political pressure from MWD, which carries considerable clout statewide.

A copy of the four-page agreement shows there were no provisions exempting MWD from laws protecting natural resources.

“Fish and Game’s response is worse than deplorable,” consultant LaPre said. “They weren’t even notified by Metropolitan that this was happening in their own ecological reserve, and when they found out, they didn’t do anything because of political pressure.”

Bradley, the Fish and Wildlife Service biologist who is to meet with MWD officials today, said that if it appears an endangered species habitat was harmed, he will require the agency to compensate by preserving or restoring wildlife areas nearby. He said he also plans to work out an agreement with MWD to avoid problems in the future during the lake’s maintenance.

Taylor said MWD will cooperate. “We have plenty of land to (offer in compensation) and we’re certainly willing to talk about that.”