State Buys Ormond Beach Site to Create Vast Coastal Wetlands

State officials agreed Thursday to purchase 276 acres at Ormond Beach in Ventura County, the second in a three-phase acquisition aimed at restoring one of the largest coastal wetlands in Southern California.

Once the goal of integrating the Ormond lands with neighboring Mugu Lagoon is achieved, supporters say, it will be the largest beach marsh in the state, stretching nine miles from Port Hueneme to Point Mugu.

“This project is the most important wetlands restoration opportunity in Southern California,” said project manager Peter S. Brand of the state Coastal Conservancy. “It’s one of our top initiatives.”

Coastal Conservancy board members, meeting in San Diego, awarded a $13-million grant to buy the property from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and Oxnard. The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit preservation group, will assume stewardship of the lands.

The conservancy bought an adjoining 265-acre parcel in 2002 and hopes to add an additional 210 acres for a total of 751 acres. Biologists believe that would create a biological system with sufficient freshwater flows and tidal action to sustain the wetlands’ health.

The conservancy will use funds from a state park bond measure approved by California voters in 2002. Money to buy the third and final parcel has already been set aside, and conservancy officials are in negotiations with the landowner, Southland Sod Farms, Brand said.

Jean Harris, a longtime preservation advocate, said she was thrilled by the latest purchase.

The first parcels acquired were sandy beaches owned by Southern California Edison. They include the marshy inlets crucial to making wetlands a sanctuary for seabirds, she said.

“This contains the estuary, the salt marsh and upland acres,” Harris said. “This really is the heart of it.”

The conservancy and its partners have put together an extensive restoration plan for the wetlands. Long-term projects include educational and recreational opportunities for residents and tourists, said Assemblywoman Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), a member of the Coastal Conservancy’s legislative board.

“Along with benefiting wildlife, this restoration will add to the beauty of Ventura County,” she said.

Local Sierra Club members have pushed for Ormond Beach’s preservation for more than two decades, said club spokesman Al Sanders.

Although they are happy with the latest purchase, many members believe the area targeted for preservation should extend well beyond 751 acres, Sanders said. A wide buffer from development is necessary for the wetlands to develop into a true wildlife sanctuary, he said.

“It’s a good thing to happen, and we needed it to happen,” Sanders said. “But it would really be unfortunate if a landscaping project is all we got out of this -- a place with parking lots and ball fields but essentially nothing meaningful for wildlife.”