25 Acres Transferred to Bolsa Chica Reserve
It’s a small addition to the 1,200-acre Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. But to the crowd of 150 people, the transfer Saturday of 25 acres to the reserve area was hailed as a key victory for the environment.
Officials formally signed an agreement that turned the parcel of land over from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to the State Lands Commission.
“The preservation of this land is so important. It is important to bring our kids to see what nature is all about,” said U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove).
Bolsa Chica is one of Southern California’s largest and most ecologically fragile wetlands, a preserve of bluffs, fresh and salt water wetlands, and home to a dozen different bird species, coyotes, jack rabbits and other animals.
“This is one more step on the road to seeing the entire Bolsa Chica . . . preserved as an integrated ecosystem,” said Evan Henry, president of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust environmental group.
The addition of the 25 acres was a long time coming. The legal process began five years ago when the Metropolitan Water District declared the area surplus land and decided to donate it to the state. The district bought the land in 1974 with plans to use part of it to build the country’s first nuclear-powered seawater desalinization facility. Those plans never materialized.
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