The coast is formed by land and water, and we cannot solve the problems of one if we ignore the problems of the other. Since it began operating in 1977, the Coastal Conservancy has concentrated its efforts on the landward side of California’s coast. Our primary focus has been on the nearshore lands of the Coastal Zone, but we have extended our work into watersheds because land-use decisions upstream greatly affect the coast itself. As the understanding of this relationship has grown, our authority to work in watersheds has become more explicit and our efforts have expanded.

Now we are looking offshore. Recently, the State Legislature allocated $7 million to the Conservancy for an ocean current monitoring and mapping program that will investigate how pollutants are transported in coastal waters. This research is essential to our understanding of the full effects of pollution and of how we might reduce its damage. The program will also provide information on nearshore sand transport, to help California to maintain its world-class ocean beaches.

Considerably more research such as this is needed if we are to make headway on our ocean problems. We need to know more about fish populations, their habitats, and the effects of fishing techniques and gear on their numbers; about the diseases that have reduced populations of otters, abalone, and other marine life in California, and the contaminants that make our recreational beaches unsafe for people. We also need to find out more about the influx of invasive species to our waters, how we might reduce that influx and control invaders that are already established. Research will help answer many of our questions, and enable us to ask still more questions about improving the marine environment.

California’s Coastal Zone extends three miles from the shoreline, encompassing about 3,300 square miles of ocean waters. It seems pretty obvious that what we do with our coastal lands will affect the marine environment, and that the quality of the marine environment will affect the quality of our lives on the coast. Too often, however, we’ve been blind to that interdependence. As late as the 1960s, for example, it was not uncommon in California for truckloads of trash to be dumped directly into the ocean, which then was thought big enough to absorb the wastes we are so adept at generating. We are rapidly learning that the world’s oceans are not so big after all, and that human activities can have profound, and sometimes devastating, effects on the vast environment of the sea.

The Conservancy has long been involved with projects to improve the health of the ocean. From its earliest days, this agency has worked to restore coastal wetlands that help filter pollutants while providing habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, including the young of many fish. We are helping to remove dams and other barriers that prevent salmon and steelhead trout from reaching their historic upstream spawning grounds. We are also actively working with local communities to reduce ocean-bound pollution, including trash from urban sewers and wastewater seepage from inefficient septic systems.

In May 2003, the Pew Oceans Commission, a nonpartisan panel created to take stock of our nation’s waters, published its report, America’s Living Oceans: Charting a Course for Sea Change (Available as a downloadable PDF file at www.pewoceans.org). The report discusses many threats to our oceans—point and non–point source pollution, invasive species, aquaculture, coastal development, overfishing, habitat alteration, fisheries bycatch, and climate change. It also outlines approaches to counter these threats, primarily through policy and regulatory means. The Coastal Conservancy’s 26 years of experience indicate there’s also a strong role for nonregulatory approaches.

We are prepared to carry out the Legislature’s mandate that we develop a program to monitor and map ocean currents. In this undertaking, we look forward to working with the many public and private organizations that are committed to improving the health of our oceans. This is another important step toward protecting California’s coast and making it a better place for our wildlife, our economy, and our enjoyment of life.

Sam Schuchat is the executive officer of the Coastal Conservancy.

Coastal Conservancy News

At its June 4 meeting in Oakland, the Coastal Conservancy approved funding for projects to restore streams and beaches from erosion, improve wildlife habitat and water quality, plan for trails and visitor-serving facilities, and accomplish other purposes along the coast and San Francisco Bay. Almost all the funding for these projects was provided by Proposition 40, the resources bond act passed last March, and Proposition 12, the park bond act of 2000.

South Coast and Central Coast

In San Diego County, the City of Del Mar will make public safety and visitor-serving improvements at the 25th Street entrance to Del Mar City Beach, using $365,000 from the Coastal Conservancy and $85,000 of its own funds. A lifeguard tower will be rehabilitated, restrooms will be built, and a ramp that now passes over a seawall will be replaced.

The San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy will prepare a plan to improve water quality and native habitats along Escondido Creek, which drains into San Elijo Lagoon, with the help of $250,000 from the Conservancy. The cities of Escondido and Encinitas will provide services valued at over $120,000.

The City of San Diego will evaluate the structural integrity of storm-damaged Ocean Beach Pier, a popular landmark. The Conservancy approved $120,000, to which the City will add $80,000 of its own funds.

Using $878,700 approved by the Conservancy in June 2001, the City of San Diego will make improvements on Chollas Creek, which has been degraded by the effects of urban development. The funds are for restoring habitat, building trails, installing new flood management facilities, and an open-air interpretive center.

In Los Angeles County, an urban waterfront plan will be prepared for the Los Angeles Harbor area, which has not yet been developed for visitor-serving, recreational, and commercial uses. An important goal is to link the waterfront with shoreline areas of Wilmington, San Pedro, and Harbor City. The Conservancy authorized $300,000, including a grant of $225,000 to the Los Angeles Harbor/Watts Economic Development Corporation and $75,000 in direct Conservancy expenditures. Local sources are expected to provide an additional $250,000.

The Malibu Coastal Land Conservancy will install a bridge over Malibu Creek, replacing a road crossing that blocks steelhead trout migration. Removal of the crossing will allow the fish to reach about 2.1 miles of spawning and rearing habitat within Malibu Creek State Park. The Conservancy approved $400,000 for the project. Another $150,000 is expected from other sources.

In Santa Barbara County, the Conservancy authorized $275,500 to the City of Santa Barbara to prepare environmental documents, permits, and engineering and construction plans for the first phase of the Arroyo Burro Estuary Restoration Project. Adding $135,000 of its own funds to the project, the City will remove invasive non-native plant species, revegetate with native plants, remove in-stream concrete structures, restore habitat in the stream channel, stabilize eroding stream banks, install storm drain filters, and develop an interpretive trail.

A master plan to address chronic shoreline erosion at Goleta Beach County Park will be prepared with $60,000 from the Conservancy, plus $10,000 in Santa Barbara County funds. Severe erosion has narrowed the popular beach considerably and made upland park facilities vulnerable to storm waves. A Conservancy-funded Goleta Beach Nourishment Project planned for this autumn will temporarily alleviate the problem. The Conservancy approved a modification in this project, initially approved in April 2002, calling for sand donation from West Beach, Santa Barbara Harbor, rather than from an offshore borrow site at Goleta Beach.

In San Luis Obispo County, the City of Morro Bay will develop strategies for retaining commercial fishing operations at a City-owned fishing pier with the help of $35,000 from the Conservancy, matched by $35,000 from the California Department of Community Development. The pier is currently leased to a commercial fish buyer, but the City needs to prepare for a time when the leaseholder may be unwilling or unable to continue its operation.

In Monterey County, the Elkhorn Slough Foundation will provide training for a variety of regulatory, scientific, and non-government organizations and individuals with the help of $110,000 from a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration approved by the Conservancy. The training will provide information about resource enhancement programs of the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. The Department of Fish and Game will contribute materials and services valued at $47,000 to the project.

In Santa Cruz County, the first phase of the Integrated Watershed Restoration Program is under way. The Conservancy approved $4.5 million to the County Resource Conservation District to provide for design and permitting of 75 to 95 restoration projects, watershed monitoring and community outreach, a lagoon management plan, a watershed activity guide for school children, and improved coordination among resource agencies and local watershed partners. These projects constitute the first phase of the county-wide program, which is designed to address several common problems affecting fisheries, water quality, and the health of streams and wetlands in 13 watersheds. The Conservancy’s funds, available through Proposition 40, will be joined with an expected $1.5 million from federal, state, and local sources for this first phase of the program, and considerable additional funds for later phases.

San Francisco Bay Area

The City of Pacifica will build a 7,700-foot segment of the Coastal Trail over the Pedro Point Headlands, linking the city with the Devil’s Slide highway right-of-way. This will complete the seven-mile Coastal Trail in Pacifica. Pedestrians, bicyclists, and wheelchair users will have a safe alternative to the Highway 1 shoulder. Caltrans will provide $800,000 for the project, the Conservancy approved $200,000, and the City will provide $100,000.

In November 2000, San Francisco voters gave 73 percent approval for a San Francisco Bay Delta and Estuary Center to be developed at Pier 45, in the Fisherman’s Wharf area. Plans call for this to be a center for learning and research, with indoor and outdoor exhibitions, laboratories, classrooms, and satellite video-conferencing and web-casting facilities. The Conservancy approved $250,000 to the San Francisco Foundation Community Initiative to complete planning. Construction costs, estimated at $32 million, are to be funded from public and private sources.

Sail San Francisco will use $75,000 approved by the Conservancy to coordinate and facilitate visits of tall sailing ships, international maritime training vessels, and other craft to California’s coastal ports; also to assist in development of waterfront festivals that highlight such ships; and to carry out educational projects involving the
vessels for students from kindergarten through the 12th grade. An additional $225,000 will be provided by a variety of public and private sources.

To help in the development of public access improvements to the Bay Area Ridge Trail at the 23,000-acre Peninsula Watershed property, which contains Crystal Springs Reservoir, in San Mateo County, the Conservancy approved $125,000 to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The improvements will allow opening of this 10-mile section of the Ridge Trail to docent-led access.

With $6.5 million of its own funds and $2 million from the Conservancy, the East Bay Regional Park District expects to purchase approximately 16 acres at the bay end of Gilman Street in Berkeley next to Eastshore State Park. The site, currently used to store horse trailers and zoned for a 50,000-square-foot retail complex, is proposed as a location for recreation and playing fields that many members of the community want to see included in the adjacent Eastshore State Park.

A $246,250 grant will help the Park District to purchase a conservation easement on the 36-acre Mount Diablo Gateway property in Contra Costa County. The easement will protect the open space, habitat, and scenic values of the property by preventing its subdivision and residential development. Continued grazing will be allowed, along with recreational uses such as trails, a staging area, and a small equestrian center managed by the City of Walnut Creek. The property is near Mt. Diablo State Park’s Northgate Road kiosk entrance and is adjacent to Diablo Foothills Regional Park. The Park District has allocated $250,000 toward the $1.56 million purchase, the City of Walnut Creek is contributing $250,000, and local conservation organizations will add $200,000 more.

With the help of $150,000 from the Conservancy, the National Park Service will acquire the three-acre Whitton property on the east shore of Tomales Bay in Marin County, and design a California Coastal Trail link southward to Millerton Point State Park. If not purchased for public use, the property would likely be developed as a residence. The Park Service will contribute $410,000 toward the total purchase price of $590,000, and the owner will contribute $60,000. The property will be added to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

The Conservancy authorized the redirection of $1,135,600 previously granted to the Marin County Open Space District to allow the District to reformulate and complete the feasibility study for the Bolinas Lagoon Ecosystem Restoration project, and to conduct engineering and design tasks.

North Coast

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management will acquire fee and conservation easement interests in 1,800 acres of the Stornetta Brothers Coastal Ranch near Point Arena in Mendocino County with the help of $3.5 million from the Conservancy, plus $1 million from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and $3,354,000 from the state Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB). The acquisition will protect natural resources, prime farmland, and the scenic corridor along Highway 1, while providing for increased public access and continued agricultural use of an historic North Coast farm. The property adjoins Manchester State Beach and surrounds the Point Arena lighthouse. BLM will purchase in fee approximately 1,200 acres of coastal bluffs and dunes and habitat along Hathaway Creek, plus an agricultural conservation easement over 600 acres of prime agricultural lowlands and grazing land.

The watersheds of the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness and the Sinkyone Wilderness State Park were degraded by decades of commercial timber harvesting. Logging ceased in 1983, and the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council will continue repairing the damage by creating new and deepening existing pools and removing barriers to salmon migration along the 2.7-mile-long Wolf Creek. With the help of $67,250 from the Conservancy, the InterTribal Council will also examine the possibility of introducing coho salmon, which were last seen in the creek in 1948. The Council and California State Parks will contribute over $19,000 for this work.

In Del Norte County, McGarvey Creek, a tributary of the lower Klamath River, hosts populations of coho and Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, and coastal cutthroat trout. With the help of a $600,000 Conservancy grant, the Yurok Tribe will improve water quality and spawning and rearing habitat for salmon and trout in the creek. The work will take place on private industrial timberlands, and will repair damage to the land that occurred decades ago. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will contribute over $129,000, Simpson Resources Company $100,000, and Caltrans $50,000.

The 5,500-acre Lake Earl wetland complex supports a great number of rare and endangered animals and plants, and is considered one of the most productive wetlands in the state. Pacific Shores, approximately seven miles north of Crescent City, is a 1,535-lot subdivision, undeveloped save for roads. The subdivision was never certified by the Coastal Commission. It is located in an area of dunes and wetlands that is periodically subject to flooding. A $150,000 Coastal Conservancy grant will enable Smith River Alliance, Inc. to undertake a systematic program to research the lots and negotiate with their owners for possible purchase. The Alliance estimates that pre-acquisition activities for up to 300 transactions could be accomplished with the Conservancy’s grant. In 2002, the Conservancy provided the WCB with $1 million to purchase properties on the lake’s eastern shore. Future lot purchases are likely to be funded by the WCB.