1994-95 Annual Highlights: Management Issues

Property acquisition and restoration continue to be a focus for the reserve manager. The City of Carpinteria Marsh/Park Steering Committee serves as the primary vehicle through which many activities occur, the primary focus being to buy, restore, and provide public access and interpretation to the eastern portion of the estuary known as the Ash Avenue Wetland. In addition to past success in raising approximately $2.5 million toward the purchase and planning of the Ash Avenue site, various efforts resulted in additional major achievements during 1994-1995: (1) the city has moved to condemn for acquisition the northern Cadwell parcel; (2) the Sandyland Cove Homeowner's Association has offered to purchase the southern Cadwell parcel as mitigation for the construction of their seawall; (3) the Technical Advisory Subcommittee on which the reserve manager also serves has worked with Moffatt & Nichol Engineers and their subcontractors in developing the final design of the Ash Avenue Wetland Project. To date, the consultants working with the subcommittee have completed the grading, landscape, and planting plans and the draft construction specifications and monitoring plan have been submitted. Because of the constraints placed on implementation funds (see previous annual reports) we must begin construction of the project in 1996.

The CSMR Management Plan also continues to be a major focus of work for the reserve manager and for project Principal Investigator Mark Page. David Court has been hired to help develop a Geographical Information System (GIS) for the estuary using Geo Navigator. It is our goal to have a printed and electronic version of the management plan, including biotic inventories, monitoring data, and literature databases to be made available to reserve users. Various draft sections of the management plan are in review. One goal of the management plan is the expansion of the reserve boundaries to include the entire estuary. This could be done through acquisition of easements over the non-NRS properties by the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County (LTSBC) and then the management of these easements by the UC NRS. Although all parties seem to agree on the benefits for having the reserve and the estuary be one and the same, there are many disagreements on how such a reserve should be managed. A public workshop to explain the planning process and the alternatives for University and Land Trust ownership, easements, and cooperative agreements was conducted in summer 1995. Liza Riddle, assistant director of the UC NRS, Violet Handelman, special assistant to the NRS director, and David Anderson, secretary of the LTSBC, were among the panel of participants. The draft plan will be completed in early 1996.

The Carpinteria Marsh Enhancement Plan, which is the latest version of the flood control project for the estuary, has stalled again. SAIC was hired last year to prepare an EIR/EIS for the project and to evaluate various alternatives for channel berm heights, estuary mouth configuration, and impact mitigations. The UC NRS is a co-applicant on this project and thus the reserve manager serves on various technical groups that have convened to oversee the effort. Because of last year's catastrophic flooding elsewhere in the county, there are numerous time and funding constraints that have affected the county's ability to move forward with the enhancement project. Although it would be desirable to have the enhancement project constructed before, during, or shortly after the completion of the Ash Avenue project, which it adjoins, it is clear that the reconstruction of Franklin Creek adjacent to Ash Avenue wetlands will not take place for several years.

The reserve steward undertook many projects to improve the facilities and habitats at CSMR. Examples include: (1) installation of a portable toilet with the help of Eagle Scouts; (2) landscaping of berms and the reserve entrance; (3) continuation of the invasive exotic plant removal program; (4) additional improvements to reserve roads; and (5) coordination of culvert and crossing improvements constructed by Southern Pacific Transportation.