Environmental Plan Proposed for UC Merced

Taking another step toward creation of a UC campus in the San Joaquin Valley, the University of California and Merced County on Monday released documents suggesting ways to limit environmental damage to the area’s sensitive lands and species.

The proposed campus near Merced, the first phase of which is to open in 2004, has long been bedeviled by environmental troubles. These include concerns about fragile wetlands and the endangered fairy shrimp.

The documents released Monday are unlikely to ease the concerns entirely, officials acknowledged.

“Clearly this is a very large project, but we believe we’ve taken into account all the impacts and have found ways either to reduce, eliminate or mitigate them,” UC Merced spokesman James Grant said.

The draft environmental impact report shows that development of the 2,000-acre campus about two miles northeast of Merced would result in the loss of about 78 acres of vernal pools and other wetlands. But the university proposes to compensate by acquiring and preserving similar wetlands elsewhere, according to the report.

Environmental activists who have opposed the campus said they have yet to receive copies of the documents. But they expressed concerns that plans are being pushed too fast by university and state officials.

“We believe they’re rushing this process to meet a politically inspired deadline to open in 2004,” said Steve Burke, spokesman for a Modesto-based environmental group. “It’s just way too fast.”

The draft development plans and environmental impact reports will be online within a few days at https://www.ucmercdplanning.net, officials said. They will be presented to the Merced County Board of Supervisors next week.