HomeMy WebLinkAboutS27 - Big Canyon Restoration Scoping ProjectITEM S27
TO: Members of the Newport Beach City Council
FROM: Dave Kiff, Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT: Resolution 2002 Supporting a Grant Request for the Big Canyon
Restoration Scoping Project; Expression of the City's Intent to Match a
Grant Award with $96,700 from the Tidelands Mitigations Deposit
Account
RECOMMENDED (1) Adopt Resolution 2002 -_ stating the City's support for a grant request to the
ACTION: State Coastal Conservancy for a Restoration Scoping Project in Big Canyon to
be conducted by Community Conservancy International (CCI).
(2) Pending grant approval, express the City Council's intent to appropriate
approximately $96,700 in the Upper Newport Bay Mitigations Deposit
account to match approximately $300,000 in grant funds for the Project if the
grant is received by January 22, 2003.
BACKGROUND: Newport Bay is Newport Beach's most treasured environmental asset. From the
ecological reserve and parkland in the Upper Bay to the boating, residential, and
visitor - serving uses in the Lower Bay, Newport Bay is home to six endangered
species, the nations largest small craft harbor, tour and charter boat operations,
more than sixty different commercial ventures, rowing clubs, yacht races,
millions of visitors annually, and more.
As the Council heard at its Study Session on April 24, 2001, the City addresses
the Bay and related water resources with four goals in mind:
O Clean Water. Clean the water & keep it clean (from trash, oils, toxics, soaps,
bacteria, viruses). In some cases, reduce flows to natural (pre- development)
levels to protect sensitive ocean habitat (as in Buck Gully).
® Sediment Management. Manage the sediment (put sand on beaches and on
the shoreline, remove sediment from navigational channels and the Upper
Bay)
® Habitat Protection. Preserve and promote good habitat like Eelgrass, Kelp,
Upper Newport Bay marine life and waterfowl, and offshore marine life
refuges (Newport's Area of Special Biological Significance).
O Diversity of Uses. Preserve and protect the diverse uses and marine
heritage in Lower Newport Bay.
Newport Beach City Council
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Upper Newport Bay - including its ecological reserve (administered by the
California Department of Fish and Came), its regional park (administered by the
County of Orange) and the access provided by Back Bay Drive (administered by
the City) - is one of California's more challenging resources to manage and
protect. Several major - and complex Upper Bay projects involving a multitude
of agencies are underway today, including:
• Upper Newport Bay Ecological Restoration Feasibility Study. This US Army Corps
of Engineers -led (US ACE) study is the "Big Dredge' now set for the latter part of
2003. The dredging project will be about three times as large as the last dredging
project, with funds coming from Proposition 12 (approved by the voters in March
2000) and from the federal government. This $31 million project, now in "plans and
specifications" phase, is cost - shared 65 % -35% between the federal government and
state /local partners.
• Newport Bay /San Diego Creek Watershed Feasibility Study. This US ACE -led
Study looks at ways to reduce sediment and nutrient deposits in the Upper Bay by
keeping the sediment at its source. The Study will also identify locations in the San
Diego Creek watershed to preserve and restore habitat.
• Sediment/Nutrient TMDL Compliance. To comply with recently- adopted total
maximum daily loads (TMDLs) that limit sediment and nutrients into the Bay, the
City helps fund ongoing monitoring and maintenance of upstream environments to
meet the TMDL's limits.
Even with these three major efforts, the Upper Bay arguably still will face
significant problems in the future relating to the regions heavy use of the Bay as
a park, reserve, and local resource. These problems include:
• Erosion of the City-, County-, and privately -owned slopes that abut the Bay;
• Infestation by non - native plants; and
• Contaminated runoff from Bay- adjacent residential and business areas.
About CCI. Aware of these concerns, representatives of the Newport Bay
Naturalists and Friends discussed the Upper Bay's challenges with Esther
Feldman of the Community Conservancy International (www.ccint.org). CCI
describes itself as "a non - profit organization dedicated to preserving natural
lands and waters worldwide and implementing conservation - compatible
projects to protect local communities..." CCI's recently advocated and planned
for park and open space in the Baldwin Hills (near Ballona Creek in western Los
Angeles). CCI succeeded in securing $36 MN in state funding for Baldwin Hills.
Big Canyon Creek. CCI has focussed its attention on Big Canyon Creek, a
drainage that receives runoff from the Big Canyon Country Club and runs
through the Big Canyon Nature Park, a City park. Ms. Feldman has prepared a
grant application for about $400,000 from the Southern California Wetlands
Recovery Project (SCWRP) for the "Big Canyon Creek Restoration Scoping
Project" The Project is described in Attachment B and entails:
• A detailed restoration plan for wetlands and wetlands - related habitats
• Addressing current unfiltered urban runoff and impacts on Bay water quality
• Addressing drainage needs of golf course, City storm drains and bluffside homes
• Development of public access and connection to Big Canyon Nature Park
• Prevention of future flood damage
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• Development of public information on -site
• Public agency and community involvement
• The restoration of critical wildlife habitat values to protect endangered and
threatened species.
Neeoport Bay - Big Canyon Creek Area
About the Grant Provider. The State Coastal Conservancy (www.scc.ca.gov)
administers SCWRP. SCWRP is a partnership of public agencies working
cooperatively to acquire, restore, and enhance coastal wetlands and watersheds
between Point Conception and Mexico. SCWRP:
1. Identifies wetland acquisition and restoration priorities;
2. Prepares plans for these priority sites;
3. Pools funds to undertake these projects;
4. Implements the priority plans, and
5. Oversees post - project maintenance and monitoring.
A Board of Governors guides SCWRP, including its federal partners (the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, US EPA, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, National
Marine Fisheries Service, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service) and
its state partners (Cal -EPA, the California Coastal Commission, the Department
of Fish and Game, the State Coastal Conservancy, the State Lands Commission,
the State Water Resources Control Board, and area Regional Boards). A Public
Advisory Committee advises the Board of Governors on regional needs and
priority wetlands. Newport Beach resident and former Council member Jean
Watt and Orange County Supervisor (5th District) Tom Wilson represent Orange
County on the Committee.
Funding for SCWRP comes from the State of California and from participating
agencies. The SCWRP expects to see significant new funding for wetlands
projects if Proposition 40 passes in March of this year. Their deadline for new
grant proposals is February 15, 2002.
More about the Proposed Grant & City Funding. CCI's $400,000 grant effort
would not actually construct a project. But it would enable CCI and the City to
complete all planning, design, and permitting for a comprehensive restoration of
-the Big Canyon area. With a restoration project planned and permitted, the City
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and CCI would be in an advantageous position to approach the Conservancy
and other funders for construction funding.
The City would be a partner in CCI's grant effort and would commit funding
from our Mitigation Account within the Tidelands Fund. Harbor permittees who
build structures in the Lower Bay pay into the Mitigation Account in part to
mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of their structures. Funds in the
Account must be directed towards environmental enhancement in the Upper
Bay. There is $96,700 in the Account as of December 2001.
THIS AGENDA This Agenda Item asks the City Council to approve a resolution in support
ITEM: of CCI's grant proposal that would develop an extensive improvement plan for
Big Canyon Creek and to assign $96,700 in funds in the Mitigation Account for
the Restoration Scoping Plan IF CCI and the City receive the Conservancy grant
within 12 months of the date of the resolution.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL On May 22, 2001, your Council approved Resolution 2001 -34 in support of
ACTION: a different CCI /City proposal for a larger restoration project in Upper Newport
Bay (see Attachment C). This effort has not yet been successful in receiving
funding. Ms. Feldman and I believe that this smaller Big Canyon project may be
more viable in today's grant funding environment.
ATTACHMENTS: Attachment A - Resolution 2002 -_ Supporting Grant Request for Big Canyon
Attachment B - Summary of CCI's Grant Request
Attachment C - Resolution 2001 -34 from May 2001
JjTIA wV\enn N
Resolution 2002-
A RESOLUTION OF THE NEWPORT BEACH CITY COUNCIL
IN SUPPORT OF THE
BIG CANYON CREEK RESTORATION SCOPING PROJECT
WHEREAS, Upper Newport Bay is one of Southern California's most treasured
environmental resources; and
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WHEREAS, Upper Newport Bay's wetland resources are home to more than six listed or
endangered species worthy of the City of Newport Beach's active protection; and
WHEREAS, Upper Newport Bay, as an urban estuary that receives stormwater and other
drainage from more than 154 square miles of urbanization, agriculture, and open space; and
WHEREAS, Big Canyon Creek, which enters the Bay west of Jamboree Road between San
Joaquin Hills Road and Eastbluff Road at the city-owned Big Canyon Nature Park, has specific
challenges that impact the Bay as a receiving water, including contaminated and high - nutrient
runoff from area residences and a golf course, erosion from slopes, and intrusion of non -native
habitat, and
WHEREAS, Community Conservancy International has proposed a Restoration Scoping
Plan that would access funding from the State Coastal Conservancy to address the issues facing
Big Canyon Creek; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Newport Beach that the City hereby states
its formal and enthusiastic support of CCI's grant proposal for Big Canyon Creek and that it
encourages the State Coastal Conservancy to favorably review and fund the Restoration
Scoping Project.
ADOPTED this 22 -s day of January, 2002.
TOD W. RIDGEWAY
Mayor of Newport Beach
ATTEST:
LAVONNE HARKLESS
City Clerk
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Attachment B
Upper Newport Bay:
Big Canyon Creek Restoration Scoping Project
A joint proposal from the City of Newport Beach and Community Conservancy International
to the California Coastal Conservancy s Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project.
Summary:
The Big Canyon Creek Restoration Scoping Project will prepare the detailed plans necessary to
restore Big Canyon Creek in Upper Newport Bay and to develop appropriate public access in
Big Canyon and in the Big Canyon Nature Park. The project is proposed as a joint effort
between the City of Newport Beach and Community Conservancy International, a non - profit
organization spear - heading the effort to secure state funds from the Coastal Conservancy's
Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project. To date, no project for Upper Newport Bay has
been included on the Wetlands Recovery Project list. The Scoping Project will involve all
necessary public agencies as well as surrounding communities, so that the final restoration plan
is ready to be permitted and initiated. The City of Newport Beach is being asked to commit
$100,000 to this $400,000 project, if the state funds are granted.
The Big Canyon Creek Restoration effort will include:
♦ detailed restoration plan for wetlands and wetlands - related habitats
♦ addressing current unfiltered urban runoff and impacts on Bay water quality
♦ addressing drainage needs of golf course, City storm drains and bluffside homes
development of public access and connection to Big Canyon Nature Park
♦ prevention of future flood damage
♦ development of public information on -site
♦ public agency and community involvement
♦ restore critical wildlife habitat values to protect endangered and threatened species
Need for Restoration at Big Canyon Creek:
Big Canyon Creek has been severely degraded over many decades, and is in very poor
condition as a result of decades of urbanization in the surrounding watershed, bad
management decisions and poor planning. Erosion causes continual sedimentation of the Bay,
and unfiltered urban runoff seriously impact Bay water quality due to high levels of nutrients,
bacteria, pesticides and sewage discharges. Big Canyon - which was once a functioning
complex of wetlands habitats, including marine mudflats, brackish and fresh water marsh,
riparian woodland, coastal sage scrub and buffer lands - is now a cattail- choked collection
point for unfiltered runoff from the surrounding areas of Newport Beach and Irvine. Runoff
sources include the Big Canyon Country Club golf course, 18 square miles of urban
development and heavily - fertilized and irrigated bluff -side homes.
Repeated flooding events since 1969 have resulted in:
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1. Large sediment loads where Big Canyon Creek joins Upper Newport Bay;
2. Destruction of high -value habitat and functions;
3. The destruction of public trails and educational facilities;
4. The closure of Back Bay Drive and reduction of public access; and
5. Degradation of public recreation opportunities.
Due to multi- jurisdictional issues (at least six federal, state and local agencies), only a limited
amount of restoration has been done at this important and heavily- visited site.
About Community Conservancy International (CCI)
Community Conservancy International (CCI) is a non - profit organization dedicated to the
conservation of natural lands and waters and the protection of local communities. CCI works to
combine protecting and restoring sensitive natural areas with compatible community or
economic uses. CCI is particularly well- suited to address habitat restoration issues in Upper
Newport Bay because of the organizations ability to work with multiple public agencies and
community stakeholders, and to address the complex biological, technical, political, landowner
and public components of resource conservation projects, particularly those in urban areas.
CCI is a leader of the successful effort to protect and restore the two - square mile Baldwin Hills
in the heart of urban Los Angeles County. This project involves the conversion and restoration
of 900 acres of degraded oil drilling lands. As a result of CCI's efforts, Governor Davis made
the Baldwin Hills one of his top conservation priorities in his 2000 -01 budget, earmarking $36
million for the area. Working with over 100 public and private stakeholder groups, and in
partnership with the California Coastal Conservancy and State Parks, CCI completed in 2001 a
three -year, community-based master planning process for the Baldwin Hills. With funding
from the Coastal Conservancy, CCI directed an 18 -month comprehensive Ecological
Assessment of the Baldwin Hills. Restoration efforts are now underway in this important part
of the Ballona Creek Watershed.
CCI's President Esther Feldman specializes in large, complex conservation projects requiring
the involvement of a wide diversity of players. She has led numerous successful public funding
and resource conservation efforts in California and elsewhere in the United States. She started
the Los Angeles River Greenway Program for the Mountains Recreation and Conservation
Authority and for the Trust for Public Land, overseeing the early acquisitions along the LA
River. She is responsible for generating over $2 billion in public funds to protect and improve
park, recreation and natural lands since 1988 through voter - approved ballot measures.
A member of the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission for three years, Ms.
Feldman has a broad understanding of land use issues, legal requirements and public agency
needs. Former employers include the Planning and Conservation League, the Santa Monica
Mountains Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land. She has a Bachelor of Science in Soil
and Water Science from the University of California, Davis.
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Resolution 2001 -34
A RESOLUTION OF THE NEWPORT BEACH CITY COUNCIL
IN SUPPORT OF COMMUNITY CONSERVANCY INTERNATIONAL'S
UPPER NEWPORT BAY RESOURCE PROTECTION
AND ENHANCEMENT PROJECT
WHEREAS, Upper Newport Bay is one of Southern California's most treasured
environmental resources; and
WHEREAS, Upper Newport Bay's wetland resources are home to more than six listed or
endangered species worthy of the City of Newport Beach's active protection; and
WHEREAS, Upper Newport Bay, as an urban estuary that receives stormwater and other
drainage from more than 150 square miles of urbanization, agriculture, and open space; and
WHEREAS, the wetlands of Upper Newport Bay also face challenges from problems closer
to the Bay, including runoff from area residences and businesses, erosion from slopes, intrusion
of non -native habitat, and illegal trespassing in sensitive habitat areas of the Bay; and
WHEREAS, Community Conservancy International has proposed a habitat restoration
project that would access funding from the State Coastal Conservancy to address each of the
issues affecting Upper Newport Bay's wetlands; and
WHEREAS, Community Conservancy International has communicated with several area
stakeholders in proposing their project, including the County of Orange, the California
Department of Fish and Game, and the Upper Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends, now,
therefore be it
RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Newport Beach that the City hereby states
its formal and enthusiastic support of CCI's grant proposal for Upper Newport Bay and that it
encourages the State Coastal Conservancy to favorably review and fund CCI's project at its
earliest convenience.
ADOPTED this 22nd day of May, 2001.
ATTEST:
LAVONNE HARKLESS
City Clerk
dw.m... �
GAROLD B. ADAMS
Mayor of Newport Beach
STATE OF CALIFORNIA }
COUNTY OF ORANGE
CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH }
I, LAVON'VE M. HARKLESS, City Clerk of the City of Newport Beach, California, do
hereby certify that the whole number of members of the City Council is seven; that the foregoing
resolution, being Resolution No. 2001 -34 was duly and regularly introduced before and adopted by
the City Council of said City at a regular meeting of said Council, duly and regularly held on the
22nd day of May, 2001, and that the same was so passed and adopted by the following vote, to wit:
Ayes: Heffernan, O'Neil, Ridgeway, Glover, Bromberg, Proctor, Mayor Adams
Noes: None
Absent: None
Abstain: None
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed the
official seal of said City this 23rd day of May, 2001.
(Seal)
City Clerk
Newport Beach, California