Help Protect Local Wetlands

Urgent!  Protect Local Wetlands by Attending Tomorrow Night's City Council Meeting

 

Dear Friend of the Coast,

If you live in Long Beach and care about protecting local wetlands I urge you to support restoration of the Colorado Lagoon by attending tomorrow's Long Beach City Council meeting.  The Friends of the Colorado Lagoon advocate for policies that improve and restore wetlands habitat in and around that area and for better water quality in the lagoon so that summer visitors can safely swim and recreate.  

One of the key elements of the Colorado Lagoon Restoration is rebuilding the original open channel connecting Colorado Lagoon to Marine Stadium and to the Pacific Ocean. The channel was filled in and replaced with a 1000’ underground culvert almost 50 years ago when the state was planning a freeway through this part of town. Though the freeway was never built, the culvert remained and has significantly restricted tidal flushing to Colorado Lagoon ever since, resulting in unsafe water quality for people and marine life.

 

Studies have concluded that in order to clean the water in Colorado Lagoon, full tidal flushing must be restored and that the best option for providing full tidal flushing is an open channel.

 

Benefits of restoring the open channel between the Colorado Lagoon and Marine Stadium include:

 

  • Restoration of full tidal flushing for Colorado Lagoon will yield safe and clean water.

 

  • The project includes significant improvements to Marina Vista Park

 

  • Environmental Education Opportunities – With more than 5,000 school children attending schools within walking distance of the lagoon and Marina Vista Park, the restoration of an open channel can be used as an environmental education classroom, helping our local schools meet their curriculum requirements.

 

  • The open channel will restore marine habitat that was lost when the original channel was filled and will re-establish a link to the rest of Alamitos Bay.

The open channel, like other aspects of the Colorado Lagoon restoration, was first suggested at a public meeting held more than four years ago. Since then, it has been through many public reviews, a Restoration Feasibility Study, a detailed Environmental Assessment and is now before the city council.

 

Approval of the Final Environmental Impact Report for the restoration of Colorado Lagoon will be voted on at the October 14th City Council meeting. Any delays in the project will jeopardize the funding that has already been secured for the restoration. We urge you to contact the Mayor and your city council member and let them know that this project is important for our community. Your presence at the city council meeting will help ensure approval of this critical step in the restoration of Colorado Lagoon.

 

Please attend tomorrow!  Details below. 

 

Attend the City Council meeting tomorrow night to show your support for increasing the tidal flushing by opening up the channel to the Colorado Lagoon in order to help the water quality of the lagoon and improve it's habitat.  With over 90 percent of California's wetlands lost forever we must do what we can to protect and restore what we have left.

 

Long Beach City Council Meeting
Tuesday, October 14th, at 5:00pm
Long Beach City Hall, Council Chambers, 1st floor
333 W. Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA  90802

 

For the coast,

 

Mark Massara

 

Friends of Colorado Lagoon welcomes any comments or questions. Contact them at friends@coloradolagoon.org.

 

 Sierra Club's Great Coastal Places Campaign

3435 Wilshire Blvd, Ste 660, Los Angeles, CA 90010

www.sierraclub.org/ca/coasts/