State to Pay $17 Million for Coastal Wetlands

State officials announced Monday they have reached agreement on a $17-million deal to acquire some of the best remaining coastal wetlands at three Southern California locations, including 600 contested acres at Ormond Beach in Oxnard.

The agreement concludes months of negotiations by the California Coastal Conservancy, backed by environmental groups, to secure environmentally sensitive lands that once were buffer zones for Southern California Edison power plants from Port Hueneme to Huntington Beach.

While details are being ironed out, the agreement would transfer land at Ormond Beach, plus 31 acres at Mandalay Dunes in Oxnard and 20 acres at Huntington Beach, into public ownership. It is part of a broader effort to restore wetlands for the benefit of wildlife and to protect the properties from future development, according to officials.

“This is the biggest project we’ve ever done,” said Bill Ahern, executive director of the conservancy. “We’re really happy because these are wetlands in Southern California and we have the money to do it. It means there’s going to be more birds flying over houses and more fish in the sea.”

The acquisition of a portion of Ormond Beach is the centerpiece of the deal. The conservancy, using funds set aside for the preservation of California’s coastline, has agreed to pay $15 million for about 220 acres of wetlands, 80 acres of beach and 300 acres of upland tilled fields. Although the purchase does not include all the Ormond Beach land, it makes up a vital part of the watershed that can be managed to buffer marshes from pollution and urban encroachment, Ahern said.

“This is the beginning of the end of a 23-year-old dream for me,” said Jean Harris of the community-improvement group Oxnard Beautiful. “By golly it’s just wonderful.”

Although badly degraded, Ormond Beach is the largest remaining tract of undeveloped coastline in Ventura County, an ecological jewel in a region that has lost 75% of its coastal wetlands. Among the groups that have advocated its protection are government agencies, environmentalists, scientists and a prestigious urban planning group. Preserving the area is widely considered key to enhancing wildlife and protecting open space.

But Ormond Beach is part of a schizophrenic landscape, battered by human activities that have degraded but not destroyed it. Surrounding it is a military base, a metal foundry, a sewage plant, a major port, a power plant and a paper mill. Yet imperiled birds, such as the California least tern and the western snowy plover, inhabit wetlands along the beach. Dunes and bluffs offer dramatic vistas of the Pacific Ocean and inland mountain ranges.

In an attempt to restore Ormond, the coastal conservancy, working with state and local authorities, plans to link the newly acquired land to new sources of freshwater and tidal influences to replenish wetlands with nutrients vital to plants and animals.

“The idea is to restore the historic wetland that was out there before,” said Peter Brand, project manager with the coastal conservancy. “It will triple the amount of wetland acreage that is out there right now. We hope this will be the foundation of one big wetlands complex spanning 3,000 acres from Point Mugu to Port Hueneme.”

Southern California Edison, directed to sell off excess lands and power plants as part of efforts to deregulate the utility industry, has been in search of a buyer for the properties at Ormond Beach and elsewhere. Terms of the agreement call for turning over 20 acres of wetlands along Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach for $1 million, and two parcels spanning 31 acres at Mandalay Dunes--near Harbor Boulevard between McGrath State Beach and Mandalay Beach park in Oxnard--for $1 million, officials said.

Michael Kromelow, manager of special projects for Southern California Edison, described the agreement with the conservancy as preliminary, but added, “I would be very surprised if the deal did not happen.”

The agreement must also be approved by the seven-member board of directors for the Coastal Conservancy, which is to consider the deal at its Feb. 24 meeting in Long Beach.

To conclude the purchase, specific boundaries must be delineated, legal documents must be drafted, and Southern California Edison must remove oil tanks from the Mandalay Dunes property. Those tasks could take several more months, and both parties expect the lands to transfer to public ownership by the end of the year.