Developer Ordered to Halt Pumping at Lagoon : Oxnard: Baldwin Co. is accused of violating Coastal Act by its actions on wetlands-designated property.

A state regulator has ordered a developer that wants to build 5,000 houses at Ormond Beach in Oxnard to stop pumping water from a fragile lagoon where endangered species are flourishing or face fines of up to $6,000 a day.

The California Coastal Commission hand-delivered a cease-and-desist order to the Baldwin Co. Wednesday, charging that the developer is violating the California Coastal Act by pumping water from 30 acres of inundated property that have been designated as wetlands for decades.

State permits are required to pump water from wetlands, commission officials said.

The Orange County-based developer ignored a request last week to stop pumping water from its property, where California least terns and other endangered wildlife have recently been found in unusually high numbers.

“We clearly do not feel we are doing anything wrong,” said Louis Malone, president of the Baldwin Co. division that includes Ventura County. “We’re going to continue the pumping to protect our property.”

Chris Kern, the commission’s enforcement analyst, said a biologist from the state Department of Fish and Game examined the lagoon Tuesday and found that pumping would harm several state and federally protected endangered species.

“As of yesterday, we observed that pumping was continuing, and in fact had increased,” Kern said. “The water level in the wetland was significantly lowered.”

The J Street and E Street canals, which drain gutters in Oxnard, empty into the lagoon. In past years, the Ventura County Flood Control District has breached a sandbar to drain the lagoon, but it agreed to stop the practice last year while endangered least terns nested and their young matured.

In March, the endangered tidewater goby fish was found in the J Street canal, and regulatory agencies notified the flood control district that it would need permits to drain the wetlands from then on.

Now that the lagoon has no outlet to the sea, it has begun flooding land in the area. Malone said the Baldwin Co. was left with no choice but to pump water. The company has spent between $30,000 and $40,000 erecting sandbags and pumping water from its property, he added.

“We tried to cooperate every way with all the agencies,” Malone said. “It seems like our only option is going to be the courts, because no one is paying attention to what is happening to us.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is investigating whether federal permits are also required to pump water from the area, a corps spokesman said.

“It seems like there is a confusion as to jurisdiction,” Malone said. “This is (Oxnard’s) jurisdiction. We’re really not sure if Coastal Commission permits are required.”

The Baldwin Co. obtained an emergency pumping permit from Oxnard Wednesday, said Deanna Walsh of the city’s Planning Department.

Kern said while part of the disputed area is within Oxnard’s primary jurisdiction, the Baldwin Co. still has to obtain permits from the Department of Fish and Game, Coastal Commission and possibly other agencies before pumping water from the lagoon.

Coastal Commission officials say they expect the Baldwin Co. to stop pumping immediately, but are prepared if the company chooses to ignore the stop order.

“We would file a lawsuit if necessary,” Kern said. “We take it very seriously and we expect to enforce it.”