Restore Bolsa Chica Without Going Broke

* Deborah Schoch’s article (“Bolsa Chica Restoration Cost Soars,” Sept. 9) was excellent and it pointed out how the Bolsa Chica restoration plan is too costly with the alternative the planning group has chosen. The Bolsa Chica Land Trust has chosen a way to restore the Bolsa Chica wetlands and stay within the allocated funds.

This alternative won’t cost an arm and a leg; will not necessitate a costly bridge over the Pacific Coast Highway; will not necessitate replacing the sand annually forever, which would wash away from one side of the jetties; and will not disrupt the Bolsa Chica State Beach for recreational use. (This area has over 800,000 users each summer month.)

The money can be spent here on Bolsa Chica. It isn’t the Cadillac plan but it saves and restores the precious Bolsa Chica wetlands, which is the purpose of the environmental impact report.

This alternative allows the water to go in and out of Bolsa Chica at neap tide (every two weeks the water changes, going in and out from the ocean). It would do less harm to the existing habitat, and oil pollution would not be washed into the ocean as will happen if the recommended plan is approved. Let’s get behind Alternative No. 5, as it is called.

EILEEN MURPHY

Huntington Beach

* The article has a statement by the State Lands Commission saying, “Some sand to be dredged from the wetlands may not be suitable for deposition on the beach since it contains too much silt and organic material.”

This statement must be challenged by those of us who have a longer term perspective on the environmental history of the Orange County coast.

During the rainy season every year, the Santa Ana River, Aliso Creek, San Juan Creek and all the smaller creeks on the Orange County coast pour hundreds of thousands of tons of silt-laden mud, sand, and organic matter into the ocean. This is a natural process that has been going on through geologic time, and the ocean accommodates it very well.

When this material arrives at the coast, the breaking waves act to keep the silt-laden mud in suspension, and that component drifts offshore to settle into the deep-water basins located miles from the beach.

The action of the breaking waves separates the sand from the mud and leaves it on our beaches. Without our rivers and creeks delivering this material to our shores, we would have no sand on our beaches.

The silt, sand and organic matter dredged from the Bolsa Chica wetlands is the same material that will be washing to our Orange County shores this coming winter. This being the case, there is no reason not to place the Bolsa Chica sand dredgings in the surf line on the nearby beach. By this action our beaches will get new sand and the cost of the wetlands restoration will be minimized.

IVAN P. COLBURN

Emeritus Professor of Geology

Cal State Los Angeles

* Deborah Schoch’s article highlights the costly and massive undertaking of several federal and state agencies (collectively referred to as the Bolsa Chica Steering Committee) to restore the Bolsa Chica wetlands, one of the last remaining significant wetland areas in Southern California.

Amigos de Bolsa Chica and other environmental organizations are monitoring the restoration planning process and have expressed a number of important environmental and social concerns that must yet be addressed in the planning process.

As Schoch points out, a tidal inlet is a key element of all but one of the alternative restoration plans and is necessary to allow the use of mitigation funds from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. Scientific data indicates that a tidal inlet is essential to allow flushing of the wetland sufficient to establish viable marine and wildlife habitat areas. Amigos de Bolsa Chica always has supported a tidal inlet to allow sufficient saltwater to support the wetland habitat.

However, we also recognize and support the importance of protecting existing beach and ocean recreation areas and minimizing the potential for coastal pollution from the wetlands and urban runoff. The currently proposed plans call for tidal inlets that would result in the loss of at least 420 feet of linear beach area and substantial recreational open space.

The planning agencies need to reexamine the inlet design concept with a view toward reducing the size of the inlet to minimize environmental impacts. By seeking the involvement and financial participation of state and county agencies, a more environmentally sensitive project could result.

Many necessary state, county and city agencies have not yet been invited to participate in the restoration planning process. Indications are that Caltrans highway projects and county flood control projects could be coordinated with the wetlands restoration in a manner that would allow more money to go to restoration, and a superior project will result.

We urge the Bolsa Chica Steering Committee to create a financially and environmentally sensitive restoration project to maximize both wildlife habitat and usable beach area and minimize potential pollution and impacts on recreation. Only a project meeting those criteria will win public acceptance and ultimately become a reality.

LINDA SAPIRO MOON

President

Amigos de Bolsa Chica