Corps clears path on San Luis Rey River
By Greg Fuderer

An engineer grinds up trees with a Fecon masticator in the San Luis Rey River. (USACE SPL photo archive)

“This is a significant accomplishment for the Corps and our partners,” said Col. Thomas H. Magness IV, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District commander. “It reduces the probability of damage from flooding along the river, and it provides essential habitat for protected species. It also demonstrates that partner agencies can address very difficult environmental, social and engineering issues, and develop a plan that satisfies those responsibilities.”

Beginning in mid-September, heavy equipment cut and mulched about 130 acres of vegetation, including invasive plants like giant reed and tamarisk. The resultant 170-foot wide clearing will allow an increased flow of water through the river and significantly reduce the chance of flood damage for adjacent homes, businesses and infrastructure, according to Thomas Keeney, Los Angeles District senior biologist.

The work is the result of an agreement among the Corps, the City of Oceanside and state and federal resource agencies that addressed environmental concerns and allowed the work to proceed. The City of Oceanside will assume responsibility for annual maintenance of the recently mowed area, Keeney added.

“There is a need to reduce the potential for flood damage and still preserve protected habitat,” Keeney said. “We met the challenge of finding a balance. There’s no greater joy than doing that.”

Keeney was working on the project when the least Bell’s vireo, a small native bird, was added to the federally-protected species list. Vegetation destined for removal became protected habitat, severely complicating the river’s operations and maintenance plan, according to Keeney.

The Bell’s vireo, a small native bird to the San Luis Rey River, is a federally protected species. (USGS photo by Greg Lasley)

The extent to which the vegetation removal will increase water flow, and possibly remove the need for homeowners to purchase flood insurance, will be determined by a planned hydraulic analysis, according to David Van Dorpe, project manager.

“Now that we’ve removed the vegetation, we can conduct the hydraulic analysis and aerial mapping to determine the results,” Van Dorpe said. The $375,000 analysis is not yet in the budget, but Van Dorpe is hopeful they will receive the funds soon.
The new clearing includes a fire break along an area subject to natural fires and arson, increased access for vector control to combat mosquitoes that carry the West Nile Virus, and more open space for both predator and prey, according to Van Dorpe.

Phase Two of the project is scheduled for fall of 2009, when mowers will cut an additional 60-foot wide section along the seven mile stretch of river. The long-term plan calls for a third 60-foot wide section to be cut in 2010 as well. From there, in addition to the annual 170-foot swath, the two 60-foot swaths will be mowed at alternating five-year intervals, a method that provides the vireo with the maturity of vegetation most beneficial to its nesting habits, according to Van Dorpe.

Corps awaits decision on La Jolla Children’s Pool
By Greg Fuderer

A harbor seal lays on a rock in La Jolla. (USACE video still by Greg Fuderer)

Philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps donated money for construction of a seawall at La Jolla in 1931. The seawall created the Children’s Pool, a small protected cove beside the rocky shoreline of California’s coast where children could learn to swim. That cove is where Scripps and the Corps’ Los Angeles District cross paths.

Over the years, sand gradually filled in much of the Children’s Pool. As the beach grew, seals began to haul out onto the sand and calve their young. The seals’ presence and the inability of tidal action to remove contamination from the cove rendered the area unfit for human use.

“It’s a controversial issue,” said Kari Coler, a project manager with the Corps’ Carlsbad Field Office.

Seals crowd the beach in La Jolla. (USACE video still by Greg Fuderer)

The Corps is not predisposed to a course of action and is awaiting a permit application from the city, according to Coler.

That the aquatic issue has been widely reported in the San Diego area is a fitting tribute to its benefactor. Scripps co-founded The Detroit Evening News in 1873 and is credited with having pioneered the concept of the feature article. In 1903, she helped establish the Marine Biological Association of San Diego. The Association moved to La Jolla in 1912 and became a department of the University of California. It is now known as the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

“At the heart of the controversy is what to do with the seals,” Coler said. “We’ll let the process go forward and see what happens.”