U.S. Proposes Safe Areas for Coastal Goby

Meeting a federal judge’s order in the nick of time, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday proposed setting aside portions of 11 creeks in Orange and San Diego counties for a tiny endangered fish called the tidewater goby.

Two of the creeks enter the ocean at or near San Onofre State Beach and flow under one possible path of the Foothill South toll road, which already faces harsh criticism from environmentalists.

Officials at the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC, which had sued the Fish and Wildlife Service to win additional protection for the goby, said they were pleased the proposal might create another hurdle for the toll road.

But they were sorry that other protected habitats, from the Oregon border south to San Diego, were not also proposed.

“In general we’re disappointed,” said Andrew Wexler, a project attorney with NRDC. As for Orange County, he asked, “Is it the nail in the coffin of the toll road? I wish it was, but it’s not.”

Lisa Telles, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Corridors Agency, which oversees toll-road construction, downplayed the proposal’s effects on Foothill South. The agency’s preferred route for the toll road would cross the San Onofre and San Mateo creeks where it meets Interstate 5 just south of the San Diego County line.

“We’d already identified that the tiny fish is in a study area for endangered species, so we were already studying the habitat anyway,” she said.

She said the toll road could be built on bridges over the creeks, and measures could be taken to ensure safe living conditions for the fish.

Fish and Wildlife biologist Glen Knowles said the proposal could be another hurdle for the Transportation Corridors Agency, but he noted that his agency has a year to make a final decision on whether to require protection of the goby’s habitats.

Fish and Wildlife officials in Ventura County have proposed that the fish, which is found only in California salt marshes, coastal lagoons and estuaries, be removed from the endangered-species list except for southern areas of the state’s coastline. The NRDC and other environmentalists are fighting that effort.

U.S. District Court Judge Carlos Moreno in Los Angeles ruled in April that Fish and Game officials had violated the Endangered Species Act by not designating protected habitats for the small brownish gray fish, and he gave them 120 days to do so. Tuesday was the deadline.

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The Fish Factor

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued rules shielding from development the mouths of several creeks in Orange and San Diego counties, including two near San Onofre State Beach, as a way to protect the tidewater goby, an endangered fish. The decision could affect construction of a planned toll road.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service