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.
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