The Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority’s (the agency that manages most of the publicly owned portions of Los Cerritos Wetlands) process to comprehensively plan for the restoration of all of Los Cerritos Wetlands has been going on for several years now.
Recently, an important milestone was reached, and that was the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority’s release of their Draft Program Environmental Impact Report (Draft PEIR) for the restoration of Los Cerritos Wetlands. Under the California Environmental Quality Act, the purpose of an EIR is to determine the impact of proposed development (or in this case restoration choices) on the environment. An EIR identifies ways to reduce impacts and analyzes alternatives to avoid or minimize significant environmental harm.
Because it is our role and responsibility, the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust throughly reviewed the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority’s Draft PEIR. We did the review with the help of wetlands experts and environmental attorneys. As you might expect there is a lot we like about the Draft PEIR, but there are some areas that we find deficient.
1) The Draft PEIR is unclear about the covered actions. We are clear that the purpose of the restoration plan is the long-term restoration of wetlands, habitat and tidal flow, while increasing public access. But what does that mean exactly? The eventual restoration of Los Cerritos Wetlands will take 20 years or longer and involve many phases. Which phases of the restoration will require extra review and which do the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority believe are adequately covered by their Draft PEIR. That is one of the things that seems important to clarify.
2) We get it. We really do. It is a tricky thing to try and plan for the restoration of a fragile area that includes sensitive wetlands, privately and publicly owned land, endangered species, tidal flow, sea level rise, oil operations, public access, and so forth. The list of issues that must be considered goes on and on. However we feel that a particularly “solution oriented” restoration alternative really deserves additional consideration, and that is the alternative of a tidal connection below 2nd Street into the central area of Los Cerritos Wetlands (the area adjacent to the Marketplace shopping center that stretches to the San Gabriel River). Of the three areas (Northern, Central and South) the Central seems like the most challenging area to plan for. There is privately owned land, oil operations, nearby infrastructure. . .all of which are under the threat of sea level rise. We’re asking “Why not just hold off on that area and restore it last. . .so that there can be berms that will protect the Marketplace Shopping Center that could be lower in height than the planned 18 foot tall berms?” Maybe the plan can be figured in a way that includes the raising up of 2nd Street (which will have to happen anyway sometime due to sea level rise) so that the public will be able to continue to enjoy easy views of Los Cerritos Wetlands.
3) Lastly, we urge the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority to do a few more studies; for example (1) a wetlands delineation for the restoration area, (2) a deeper hydrology analysis and (3) studies helping us reconcile the fact in some parts of the restoration plan oil wells are treated as if they will remain but oil wells from other companies have been removed. We would like to see information about the number of wells on the various properties, the number sealed off in the last ten years and the number that are idle. We also think the Hitchcock property, located on Loynes Drive and cited by the Coastal Commission as important upland habitat, should be included in the comprehensive wetlands restoration planning.
As I said, we are very happy that comprehensive restoration planning for Los Cerritos Wetlands moves forward, and it is our intention that our comment letter will make the plan better for the wetlands and better for the community. I urge you to share your views and comments with the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority which you can do by emailing Sally Gee who is the Conservancy Project Development Analyst for the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy.
P.S. If you are interested in taking a deeper dive into the Draft PEIR and our comment letter I invite you to a Zoom meeting with our consultant, land use planning expert Terry Watt. We are hosting the meeting via Zoom at 7:00PM on Thursday, July 9th. Email me at elizabeth@lcwlandtrust.org for details and to rsvp.