IRVINE : UC President Urged to Reconsider Project

Mayor Michael Ward and city officials are asking University of California President Jack W. Peltason to reconsider the withdrawal of the university from a 3-year-old plan to preserve the 580-acre San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh.

The University of California Natural Reserve System was working in concert with the city for several years to develop a plan to preserve the San Joaquin Marsh, one of Southern California’s largest freshwater marshes.

But in August, the university pulled out of the San Joaquin Marsh Enhancement Plan. Officials questioned how the marsh would be managed under the partnership and questioned plans to use treated waste water to replenish marsh areas.

“The UC system doesn’t want that part of the program,” said Ward, whose Nov. 3 letter to Peltason urged the university to reconsider. “Their part of the marsh will dry up because they’re just going to depend upon rain water to keep it full.”

A University of California spokesman said Peltason has yet to reviewed Ward’s letter.

Ownership of the marsh is split between the Irvine Co., which controls 290 acres; the University of California, which owns 202 acres, and the Irvine Ranch Water District, with about 88 acres.

The water district board on Dec. 19 will review a proposed two-year demonstration project to determine the feasibility of using treated waste water in the San Joaquin Marsh.

Irvine City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. said he sees a threat to the future of the marsh without the participation of the University of California. “We’re trying to keep a delicate balance there,” Brady said. “We want to make sure the marsh area is both enhanced and preserved and not lost for years to come.”