Imperiled Fish Now Imperils Toll Road

Federal authorities Tuesday declared nine miles of creek bed to be critical habitat for an endangered tidewater fish, including stretches of two creeks that could hinder or block development of the Foothill South Transportation Corridor.

The preferred route of the toll road would cross San Mateo Creek in south Orange County and come close enough to San Onofre Creek to threaten the tidewater goby fish, said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials.

The declaration adds to a long list of imperiled species that the Transportation Corridor Agencies must consider as it seeks approval for a controversial 16-mile toll road connecting the undeveloped area east of Mission Viejo to Interstate 5 near the county line at San Onofre State Beach.

A federal wildlife official said Tuesday the toll road agency faces an uphill battle whichever route is chosen.

“It’s hard to imagine this road could ever avoid impacting endangered species,” said Jim Bartel, assistant field supervisor with the service’s Carlsbad field office. “You’re going through an area that’s extremely rich and diverse.”

Still, he and other federal officials are working with the TCA to see whether an environmentally sensitive road can be built.

TCA spokeswoman Lisa Telles downplayed the designation. “We’re certainly going to work with all the agencies involved. . . . We certainly need to find a solution to the future traffic problem.”

The road is considered a linchpin for many proposed housing projects. TCA officials also have promised to offset lost habitat by setting aside or restoring similar areas elsewhere.

Federal wildlife officials say the TCA’s preferred route, the one that lies easternmost of Interstate 5, could eliminate shelter as well as feeding and breeding grounds in San Mateo and San Onofre creeks for the tidewater goby, a small, greyish-brown fish found only in California.

“Construction of the [preferred] alignment would likely result in the loss of these populations and potentially preclude recovery of the species,”the agency wrote.

The goby is just one more tiny, fragile creature standing in the way of the massive toll road. The coastal California gnatcatcher, southwestern arroyo toad, Riverside fairy shrimp and one of the last three known populations of the Pacific pocket mouse are all found in South County. One of the creeks also is home to the only known population of steelhead trout south of Malibu Creek.

“It should be obvious to anybody that putting a six-lane highway through the middle of a state park . . . is going to have serious ecological consequences,” said Andrew Wetzler, a staff attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, whose lawsuit forced federal officials to designate habitat for the goby and other species.

Wetzler said the goby designation “is an especially strong indication of the deep trouble the [toll] road is headed into.”

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Routes Studied

Officials unveiled several potential Foothill South toll road routes Tuesday as well as other traff-easing alternatives.

Source: Transportation Corridor Agencies