28 • Mar. 25 - Apr. 7, 2016 • The Log


NOAA Restoration Center activities to apply to SoCal coastal counties


A consistency determination will allow for monitoring and funding for specific conserva- tion projects.


By Parimal M. Rohit


SANTA MONICA — A proposal to con- sistently apply a federal habitat restoration program benefiting various marine and fishery projects to the state’s 20 coastal counties was unani- mously approved by the California Coastal Commission on March 9. The National Oceanic and


Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) requested commissioners be allowed to consistently apply its Restoration Center activities to Southern California’s five coastal counties (San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara). The Coastal Commission approved a consistency determination in 2013 for the NOAA Restoration Center’s (NOAA RC) activities along the state’s northern and central coast. Examples of NOAA RC projects in


Southern California include Upper Newport Bay Eelgrass Restoration in Newport Beach and Alamitos Bay


nizational partnerships, and volunteers to realize its restoration efforts, Smith said. Smith said NOAA hopes to ensure


its projects are consistent with the Coastal Act and protect vital resources. The Coastal Commission would review each project for consistency determi- nation; NOAA RC would provide an annual report to commissioners, updating them on the status or results of the federal agency’s restoration proj- ects in California. “It would result in more restoration


Projects similar the Upper Newport Bay Eelgrass Restoration in Newport Beach will be included within a NOAA Restoration Center consistency determination program, which standardizes funding, monitoring, reporting and technical support. A California Coastal Commission action applied the consistency determination to San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.


Olympia Oyster Restoration in Long Beach. “Commission concurrence with this consistency determination would allow NOAA RC to provide funding, technical support, monitoring, and annual reporting for specific conserva- tion projects selected and approved under the CRP for the restoration and enhancement of coastal resources without further formal review by the Coastal Commission,” a commission staff report to commissioners stated. Stacy Smith, who oversees NOAA


Tight lines — By Parimal M. Rohit


Three desalination bills on legislative floor


What’s Up: Two Orange County legisla- tors introduced three bills in Sacramento last month to advance proposed desali- nation projects along the California Coast. Matthew Harper (R-Huntington Beach) and Bill Brough (R-Dana Point) advanced proposals declare the legisla- ture’s intent to pursue desalination plants as a viable alternative to address California’s drought and expedite pro-


posals to build such plants. Harper introduced Assembly Bill 2042 (AB 2042) on Feb. 17 to establish Sacramento’s intent to pursue desalina- tion-themed legislation. AB 2043, also introduced by Harper,


could make desalination a priority. Brough’s bill – AB 2198 – would expe-


dite permit applications for proposed desalination plants. “This bill would require an applica-


tion for a coastal development permit for a desalinization project, as described, to be given priority for review, and would require the issuing agency to expedite the processing of any such per-


mit application,” the language of AB 2198, introduced on Feb. 18, stated.


The Bottom Line: Plans have been in the works to build a desalination plant off the Huntington Beach coast, which is within Harper’s district. Local and region- al water districts and boards have been working on the Doheny Ocean Desalination Project – a planned desali- nation plant adjacent to Doheny State Beach in Dana Point – since the mid- 2000s. The Doheny project is within Brough’s district. The three bills are still in the commit-


tee stage.


RC’s operation in Southern California, said extending the consistency deter- mination to San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties would allow the federal agency to fully operate within the state’s entire coastal zone. NOAA RC’s Community-Based


Restoration Program primarily focuses on project restoring habitats to directly benefit living marine, estuarine, and freshwater resources and species. The federal agency relies on educational programs, interagency and cross-orga-


projects on the ground, in the coastal zone, and statewide,” Smith said. Abalone and salmon are among the fish species targeted for habitat restoration. Some projects NOAA RC had


already overseen in California include in-stream habitat enhancements, fish passage barrier removal, restoration of tidal flow and water conservation. Smith added a consistency determi- nation would also reduce costs and time for project applications and regu- latory agencies. NOAA has spent more than $105 million since 1995 on 383 Community- Based Restoration Program projects in California, restoring more than 10,800 acres of habitat space between head- waters and ocean and opening 441 miles of stream for fish migration, according to Smith.


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