Public Has Input in Bolsa Chica Plan

The eight state and federal agencies responsible for restoring the Bolsa Chica wetlands met with the public for six hours this week, seeking input on how the job should be done.

“We’re going to be relying on what we hear from the community, both in substance and community sentiment as well,” said Melanie Denninger of the California Coastal Conservancy, one of the agencies forming the Bolsa Chica Wetlands Steering Committee.

In February, the State Lands Commission bought 880 acres of wetlands next to Huntington Beach that had once been slated for development. Restoring them will take until the fall of 2003 and be funded mainly by $33 million paid by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to offset environmental damage done when they expand.

At two three-hour hearings Wednesday at the Huntington Beach Central Library, residents questioned officials from the Coastal Conservancy, the Lands Commission, the state Department of Fish & Game and the Resources Agency, as well as the federal Environmental Protection Agency, Fish and Wildlife Service, Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“To see federal and state agencies open up like this is great,” said Tom Livengood, president of the Amigos de Bolsa Chica, one of several environmental and citizens groups in attendance. Officials are asking for input, he said, rather than presenting a finished plan and saying, “What do you think?”

“They’re really trying to reach an intelligent consensus,” said Nancy Donaven, president of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust. “They’re concerned about what we think.”

The Steering Committee said the next workshop will be no later than midsummer, and will focus on specific topics such as public access, the creation of an ocean inlet and flood control.