Bolstering Bolsa Chica

It’s a small addition to the 1,200-acre Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. But to a crowd of 150 people, the transfer Saturday of 25 acres to the reserve was hailed as a victory for the environment.

Officials formally signed an agreement that transferred the land 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), who attended the event.

Bolsa Chica is one of Southern California’s largest and most ecologically fragile wetlands, a preserve of bluffs and fresh and saltwater marshes that is home to a dozen 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.

Legal proceedings to transfer the land began five years ago, when the Metropolitan Water District declared it surplus land and decided to donate it to the state. The district bought the land in 1974 and had planned to use part of it to build the country’s first nuclear-powered seawater desalination facility, a project that was canceled.

“The land is much more valuable [left] untouched. The highest and best use” is to donate it, said Phillip Pace, chairman of the MWD board.

State Assemblyman Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach) said his grandfather first took him to Bolsa Chica in 1954 to fish. He has visited the preserve ever since.

Harman said the wetlands have come a long way from the days when they were frequently polluted and filled with trash.

“They used to call it Tin Can Beach because there were cans everywhere,” he said.

These days, the land must be preserved, he said, so children can view nature as it should be.

Bolsa Chica is “near and dear to my heart,” he said. “It’s important to the entire region of Southern California.”

There are plans to build homes on the mesa above the wetlands. Harman has proposed legislation to buy that mesa for preservation.