BUENA VISTA LAGOON STATUS UPDATE 9/9/12

Lagoon lovers, it's time to get caught up.  I know it's been awhile, but the game board has been changing, and my understanding has been growing, so I've waited until some of the dust had settled before I settled into telling the tale of restoration or not.  To be perfectly honest I did draft a piece last month and we reviewed it at the foundation meeting with mixed enthusiasm.  It seems my reference to the State and Federal agencies as disingenuous met with consternation from some and a wink and a nod from others.  Consequently, I didn't post the article out of deference to the efforts to sway these entities into a reasonable bigger picture outlook than the narrow biological window from which they view our world.  You see, when you hang out with the principles that have been involved in protecting and preserving The Buena Vista for more than 30 years, you really appreciate the true history of how and why we have a large beautiful series of connected Lagoons called the Buena Vista, (beautiful view for you non- Spanish speaking folks). 

Now, just imagine for a moment, this expansively beautiful body of water that people stop to admire at sunset, and birds flock to in profusion being reduced to an intermittent trickling stream that costs an insane amount of money to produce at tax payers expense in order to create the "preferred ideal biological conditions" around the last Ice Age.  You see because of the various elevations of the Lagoon and the Ocean, the Buena Vista has never been a Salt water Lagoon or at least not in this millennia.  Any salt water intrusion would have resulted in random storm surge which by any reasonable standard would not qualify the Buena Vista as a salt water alternative.  It wasn't until a random comment made in a meeting in 1983 that the concept of Salt Water regime was even considered.  It was however, this off handed comment that caught the fancy of Fish and Game, an agency devoid of any engineering or historical input, and completely derailed the plan for restoration that had been in the planning for years.

So, the lines were drawn and the process ensued to indoctrinate the public as to the desirability and feasibility of making a sow's ear out of a silk purse.  In the beginning there were public meetings and press releases, slide presentations, and great speeches.  Over time as the studies solidified the presentations showed less and less water and more and more pressure on the part of Govt. agencies to accept the Salt Water Alternative as the only acceptable choice.  This is when I joined the Buena Vista Lagoon Foundation and my real education began.  Here's the rub, the Feds and the State, never intended for there to be any other alternative.  In meetings that you are never invited to, the truth will out and the my way or the Highway approach of Government overreach raises it's ugly head.

This is why I applauded the back bone of the property owners at the mouth of the Lagoon.  If it wasn't for The Beach, and St. Malo's H.O.A.'s the agencies would have steam rollered their position over all of us.  I know this sounds like I have a fixed function position on the restoration propositions, but if the truth would out, I could have been sold on the Salt water approach because it would have mitigated the mosquito problem and created a no grow zone for the tullies, both of which were desirable by products. Unfortunately, in order to achieve this from an engineering reality, a consciousness level foreign to Fish and Game, you would have to destroy the lagoon in favor of a meandering trickle.  No longer would there be an expansive lagoon for school kids and nature lovers to observe the vast variety and interaction of many and larger species.  Even Audubon, a great conservation institution would find the spectacle from their head quarters on the lagoon greatly diminished compared to the alternative of keeping a full body of water without the tullies.

It's always darkest before the dawn.  Many of our Foundation meetings were clouded with the oppressive reality that Fish and Game and Fish and Wildlife were the stakes holders and unyielding.  So, when Fish & Game walked away from the restoration process, the Directors of The Buena Vista Lagoon Foundation collectively strange into action by reaching out to all influential movers and shakers in local city governments and beyond.  In so doing Assemblyman Martin Garrick, and local Coastal Commission representative, Ester Sanchez, were encouraged to write letters to and lobby higher ups in the California resource agency food chain in Sacramento.  Finally, there came a ray of hope from local city councils.  Oceanside and Carlsbad banned together, chipped in some money for the EIR and recommended that SANDAG (San Diego Association of Governments), in conjunction with Cal Trans be the lead agency in putting together and finally completing the EIR.  This is the only chance for the Lagoon to get a fair shot at survival, at least survival in some recognizable similarity to the majestic attraction it has been historically.   

As a foot note to all the drama surrounding this process, The Buena Vista Lagoon Foundation members with a lot more experience than yours truly have spoken highly of the capabilities of SANDAG and Cal Trans as independent lead agents.  If you add the knowledge and research of the Foundation Director Ron Wootton to this process, we believe that a desirable balanced outcome is yet achievable.  We must remain involved, for there will be more public input required before this settles out.  Here are two important links to get further acquainted with these new lead agencies:  http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist11/Env_docs/I-5NCC/5NCSupplemental.html  http://www.keepsandiegomoving.com/I-5-Corridor/I-5-EL-Intro.aspx

The Buena Vista Lagoon - The Untarnished Truth

Buena Vista Lagoon Restoration

I labored over how to approach this story of consequence to my neighbors and concerned citizens on the whole.  Finally, I decided to tell the tale from one person’s observations, because that is the only honest reference point I have.

In the early 2000’s I caught wind of a meeting about restoring the Buena Vista Lagoon.  An open forum with all concerned parties invited to come and hear plans for the Lagoon restoration.  At this gathering, the powers at be, outlined a series of alternative from fresh to salt and somewhere in between.  The projected cost from a low 10 million for fresh, to a high of 60 million for salt.  At this meeting I met many from the Lagoon Foundation, including their fearless leader Regg Antle.  I left with a feeling of skepticism because I come from a generation that embraces the KISS philosophy of Keep It Simple Stupid. Having come from a background of State agencies, I knew that anytime you get bureaucrats involved, the outcome is never simple.

Anyway, when the meeting wrapped up, another larger scale presentation was scheduled, so I decided to get pro-active and enlist the feedback of residents who had not chimed in.  My wife and I passed out flyers suggesting that the State was going to have their way with us and change our beautiful lagoon if they didn’t come to the next meeting and state their preference.  At the next meeting it was a packed house.  Many who came defiantly stated that they wanted an uncomplicated fresh water lagoon solution, not all but many.  At this time the players assured us that our voices would be heard and a larger scale presentation would be forth coming.

For those who have not attended, let me explain that these forums, over time went from idea exchange to visual enhancement, to slide presentations.  Even though, the players claimed to be open mined, while listening in on various conversations between the presenter and the biologist from Fish and Game, it became obvious to me that the only plan that was being actively promoted was the salt-water alternative.  In fact, when I huddled up with the presenter, he assured me that the salt-water alternative was the only viable option.

At this point, I started doing interviews with Local TV and newspaper reporters who were interested in restoration feed back.  I admit freely that I was openly critical of the involvement of Fish and Game and the Federal version of Fish and Wildlife.  My opinion was and still remains, if you want to screw it up give it to a government agency to oversee. Understand clearly, that this is not necessarily the view of any or all of the Buena Vista Lagoon Foundation members, it is my personal observation, and in light of our current political condition both State and Federal, I submit that it is not without merit.

Time marches on, and nothing for the public to chew on surfaces for many moons, then finally a presentation arrives that promotes the salt-water alternative in a palatable fashion enough for even a die hard like myself to give in to the possibility.  Instead of a dramatically shrinking body of water, the players present a full lagoon with salt-water tolerant grass instead of tulles, which are choking the waterscape and stealing the views from the museum and it’s neighbors. This luxurious body of water would only shrink marginally at tidal shifts, leaving a true lagoon and a reasonable candidate for funding from freeway expansion mitigation funds.  Sounds good doesn’t it?  The only hitch is we might need a jetty at the mouth, but we don’t know yet, or so they said.

As time passes on, the issue of mitigation funds for the sewage spills comes before the Regional Water Board, so I attend in hopes of putting my two cents worth in.  As it turns out I’m given the opportunity to plead with the Board not to send the money to Sacramento, that dark hole in the Universe, never to be seen again.  Surprisingly, the Board moved to place the lions share in the Lagoon Trust, and send a token to Sacramento.  Now we were financially equipped to fund the necessary environmental studies, and once again time passes.  Behind the scenes for most of us, the plot thickens.

Now the bottom line to the Jetty idea is that it is a bad one.  A Jetty will block beach goers from access between Oceanside and Carlsbad beaches, not to mention the environmental consequences of eroding the sand from the Carlsbad side which is totally unacceptable.  The retort from the agencies is that it will become a maintenance issue that will require funding.  If you have been keeping up with the news, the money for dredging the mouth of the Batiquitos Lagoon is already drying up. Once again promises made and not kept.  Any plan that includes constant maintenance is contrary to the KISS principles and a bad idea.

Knowing that the Jetty is not going to fly, the players engage an engineering study to create a salt-water alternative without the Jetty.  The results of which have not been made public because the bureaucrats can’t put a positive spin on it, but here and now I’m going to give you the real deal.  After dredging a huge channel, thru private property, 200 ft wide and depending on the topography as much as 16 ft deep, the resulting flow of salt water thru the large basin West of I-5 would be at best a meandering stream, not a lagoon.  No longer a large body of water abundant with fish and room to roam for all the species who come to feast and flourish.

After presenting this highly compromised plan to the members of the Buena Vista Lagoon Foundation, the true unsung heroes and protectors of sanity rose up in unison and just said NO.  You see little did many of us know, but the land including the weir and the weir lagoon is privately owned and maintained. It seems, that way back in the early 1900’s the Army & Navy Academy and the developers of St. Malo, that quaint Hobbit village that sits on the Oceanside line along the shore, got together to engineer a protective water level maintenance system, which over time evolved into the current weir.  Then, the Army & Navy Academy sold their interests out to the development that became The Beach, those really nice homes on the Carlsbad side.  Now the grandson of the original developers of St. Malo, and the representative from The Beach home owners association, sit on the Lagoon Foundation Board.  The rep from The Beach happens to be a highly decorated environmental engineer with degrees and accolades as far as the eye can see.  Neither, Fish and Game or Fish and Wildlife have anything on staff that even remotely resembles these credentials.  They farm out their study to an engineer and when the report finally materializes, the players present a copy to the Foundation.  Our environmental engineering expert reviews the report and suggests that not only is the plan flawed but the maintenance would be daunting.  Then the wolves in sheep’s clothing shed their disguises and rather than play by the rules and give each of the three options equal consideration, by the virtue of a completed Environment Impact Report, which consequently they couldn’t manipulate, Fish and Game and Fish and Wildlife, simply expose their true intent and proclaim, it’s our way or the highway, and we will not fund the EIR.  After this show down, the players spin the story to the local rags, that those evil property owners have derailed the restoration project.

THE GREAT AWAKENING

Here is when I start getting the inside story.  Regg Antle sends me an invitation to fill a vacant spot on the foundation board, and I start attending the Board meetings and my real education begins, which I have tried to impart to you.  I had no idea that the State wasn’t involved until the early 70’s.  I didn’t know that as part of their involvement they had declared that the Buena Vista would be maintained as a FRESH water lagoon.  I didn’t know that it was the only fresh water coastal lagoon in the California eco system.  I was unaware of the fact that it was the 1^st California ecological preserve.  I had no idea that the State was compelled to produce reports every five years, which they have failed to do, and I certainly was ignorant of the fact that private landowners have been the true Stewarts of this magnificent resource from the early 1900’s until the present.  In fact, in the early days, when I was passing out flyers, I came upon old owners along the edge of the Lagoon who said they had riparian water rights and were pumping lagoon water up for irrigation.  This inspires the question, how many owners along the shores of the Buena Vista have similar deeded interests that have gone unheralded.  This would be an inspired revelation, if each could take a pride of ownership interest in the outcome of this struggle, to research their title and deeded interests, and proclaim those findings, and enter them into the comments section of this blog.  I have been assigned the task of community activation, and implore you to sign on to give your feedback and support, when it is so desperately needed.  With your help we can influence the powers at be, to allow for the completion of the EIR, and let the untarnished truth win the day.

Thanks for Caring;

Scott Sterling



MAYOR
JIM WOOD
October 25,20ll
John Laird, Secretary
California Natural Resources Agency
1416 Ninth Street, Suite l3l I
Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: Buena Vista Lagoon Restortion Project EIR and Potential Funding Loss


Dear Secretary Laird:

The City of Oceanside would like to exprcss concern over the recent terrrination of the Buena
Vista Lagoon Restoration Project and Environmental lmpact Report (EIR) by the California
Deparrneet of Fish and Game. Buena Vista Lagoon is an,approximately 200 acre freshwater
coastal cstuary set in North San Diego County, between the cities of Oceanside and Carlsbad. It
is 90 percent owned by the California Deparfinent of Fish and Game that is ts$ked with
mainaining and managing the lagoon. The rpmaining l0 percent of the water and sorne adjacent
lands are privately owned. While there are 29 California estuaries, Buena Vista Lagoon was the
first to be designated as an Ecological Reserve.
Due to its surrounding urban setting, the lagoon is subject to sedimentation, sewage spills,
overgrowth of invasive qpecies and eutrophication. It is on the 303(d) list of impaired water
bodies for bacteria, nubients and sedimentation. While many ofour southern California lagoons
have probleins with sediment build-up, this condition is exacerbated at the Buena Vista Lagoon
because of a weir at the mouth of the lagoon. Several attempts have been made to preserve and
restore the lagoon. In 1981, local citizens and the Buena Visa Iagoon Foundation (BVLF)
sponsored a signatue gathering effort and took 15,000 signatures to Sacrarnento, resulting in a
dredgng of the Eastern basin of the lagoon in 1983. About twelve years ago the City of
Oceanside proposed a project to widen the mouth of the lagoon and replaoe the perrnanent weir
with a moveable one that would only be in place for part of each year. This project was tabled at
the request of the Resource Ageneies (California Deparfinent of Fish and Garne, C,alifornia
Coastal Commission, California Coastal Conscrvancn U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Anny
Corps of Engineerg National Marine Fisherie.s Serrrice) as they were initiating studies for a
major lagoon restoration project. 
These Resource agencies, the Cities of Oceanside and Carlsbad, the BVLF, the Buena Vista
Audubon Society, many interested citizens and environmental groups worked closely together
over the last five years toward that project. During this time, many public meetinp were hel4
technical studies were conducted and hundreds of thousands of axpayer funds were expended
(the Coastal Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pnrvided the bulk of the
tunding).
Three restoration alternatives were anallzed: saltwater through tidal flushing, a mixed salt and
freshwater regrme and a freehwater altemative. Throughout this process, rcsource agencies staff
stated that an EIR would be produced, so that the best solution to the lagoon's problems would be
identified based on an objective evaluation of all of the available information. In August of
201l, the stakeholders all received an email from the Califomia Deparfrnent of Fish and Game
that this project was being put "on hold.' l,andowners at the mouth of the lagoon have made it
clear that a saltwater or tidal flushing alternative may not be acceptable to them. However,
failing to move forward leaves the lagoon in a degraded condition and current estimates are that
the lagoon will become a marsh in a few years with little or no value for coastal resources.
During this same time, Caltrans was undertaking the Interstate 5 Widening Project and EIR,
which would cause significant impacts to Buena Vista l,agoon and other coastal wetlands.
Caltrans stated that mitigation money for the I-5 widening habitat impacts could pay for part of
the Buena Vista Lagoon Restoration Project. Preliminary restoration estimates in early
angineering studies were between $60 and $120 million, depending on the 6'pe of rc$oration
regime. Now that this rcstoration has been suspended, these mitigation dollars arc all in jeopardy
of being reallocated to other projects - leaving the Buena Vista Lagoon still in a degraded state
with no potential firnding to do the major restoration that is needed.
It is our understanding that all of the engineering studies have been completed for the three
alternatives, and that production and public distribution of the EIR is the next step. We
understand that the money for this cnrcial next step is available. While there remains much
controversy over what is ultimately ttre best restoration plan for the lagoon, everyone agrees that
issuing the EIR will allow all of these issues to be fully evaluated and a lagoon restoration plan
to proceed. Furthermore, moving this process foruard now is esential to assure that the flrnds
that could pay for it are not divertd to other projects.
We respectfully reque$ that the EIR for this important project be completed. A completed
document will determine the best method of fixing the lagoon and can be coordinated with
potential funding from the I-5 widening project.



November 22,2O11

John Laird, Secretary
California Natural Resources Agency
Department of Fish and Game
1416 Ninth Street, Suite 1311
Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: Request to Complete Buena Vista Lagoon Restoration Plan Project's Environmental lmpact Report /
Environrnental lmpact Statement

Dear Secretary Laird:

The City Council of the City of Carlsbad discussed the status of the proposed restoration of the Buena
Vista Lagoon and was distressed to learn that completion of the ElRlElS has suspended indefinitely. The
City Council authorized me to send this letter requesting a resumption of this important and critical
project. The Buena Vista Lagoon is California's first Ecological Reserve as well as the state's only fresh
water coastal habitat ecosystem, making it an important part of the biological resource composition of
California. Therefore, the Carlsbad City Council requests your re-consideration of this decision, and asks
that you direct the continued processing of the EIR to reach the ultimate objective of implementing a
project to:restore the lagoon to a sustainable natural resource.

The Buena Vista Lagoon currently provides important habitat for plant, fish, birds, and invertebrate
species, including several special status species. Unfortunatel% the lagoon has been changing steadily
over time with progressive degradation of the various benefits to wildlife and humans. Results from
recent studies indicated the lagoon would most likely become vegetated fresh water marsh or riparian
woodlands within the next 30 - 50 years, thereby ceasing to provide wetland function and values. This
continued degradation would also likely result in increased vector problems, additional water quality
impairments, and impact to visual re$turces provided by the lagoon. Studies conducted over the past
decade concluded that if the existing physical, biological, and chemical processes at work within and
around the lagoon are not altered, then the wetland habitat function and values of the lagoon will
continue to degrade.

During this same time period, Caltrans was undertaking the planning of the lnterstate 5 Widening
Project (and completing the accompanying EIR), which could cause significant impacts to the Buena
Vista Lagoon and other coastal wetlands. Caltrans stated that mitigation funding for the F5 widening
project's impacts to habitat could pay for portions of one of the salt water alternatives identified in the
Buena Vista Lagoon Restoration Plan Project. Now that this restoration project has been suspended,
these mitigation funds are in jeopardy of being reallocated to other projects - leaving the Buena Vista
Lagoon in a degraded state with no potential funding to do the major restoration that is needed.

ln August, 2O11 the project stakeholders received an email from CDFG indicating the Buena Vista Lagoon
Restoration Plan Project is "on hold" due to the situation where private property owners have stated
they are not interested in dedicating property at the mouth of the lagoon for modifications to the inlet
along the coast adjacent to their properties. The city understands the conflicts with private property
ownership and public projects, however, that fact should not suspend the completion of the EIR/EIS to
study the environmental consequences of inaction. lnaction allows the lagoon to continually degrade.
There are separate legal processes to deal with necessary private property acquisition and this should
not delay or postpone such an important public project. We understand our city attomey will be
discussing this issue with your attorneys to develop a joint recommendation of how best to handle this
aspect of the proposed project. lt is our understanding that all of the engineering studies have been
completed for the three alternatives, and production and public distribution of the EIR is the next step.
We also understand that the money for this crucial next step is available. While there remains much
controveisy over what is ultimately the best restoration plan for the lagoon, issuing the EIR will allow all
of these issues to be fully evaluated, and a suitable lagoon restoration plan selected for implementation.
Furthermore, moving this process fonivard now is essential to assure that the funds that could pay for it
are not diverted to other projects.

We recognize the majority of Buena Vista Lagoon is owned and managed as an ecological reserve by
CDFG, which gives the agency primary responsibility for overseeing lagoon activities within its
ownership. The Carlsbad City Council, however, respectfully requests that the EIR/EIS for the Buena
Vista Lagoon Restoration Plan Project be completed. The EIR can then be used as a tool to determine the
best method of restoring the functionality of the lagoon, and also can be used to justify a viable project
for the usl of potential matigation funding from the l-5 widening project.
Sincerely,

Matt Hall, Mayor

c: City Council Members
Lisa Hildabrand, City Manager
Ron Ball, City Attorney
Chris Hazehine, Parks and Recreation Diiector
Terri Stewart, State of California Fish and Game