Redondo Union High School has a new water and energy-saving, ocean friendly demonstration garden on its campus, less than a half mile from the Pacific Ocean, thanks to the garden’s sponsor, West Basin Municipal Water District. The water district coordinated with the California Water Service Company, Redondo Beach Unified School District, Redondo Union High School,
Dudek and its native habitat contracting firm, Habitat Restoration Sciences Inc. (HRS), have started a native plant nursery and native seed propagation facility in Carlsbad, California, to help clients’ restoration projects be more successful and cost-effective. Andy Thomson, a senior Dudek restoration ecologist and nursery co-founder, said the facility provides four advantages for habitat restoration
Recycled water purveyors who are finding more customer demand for their product face a potential new environmental challenge. Wetlands created by the discharge of excess recycled water can be adversely impacted as the water diminishes. “Often times, the discharge provides a water source for wetlands that otherwise would not have been present, especially in the
San Marcos Unified School District officials saw opportunity – rather than potential regulatory headaches – when they learned a new elementary school site harbored federally-protected wetlands habitat and endangered thread-leaved brodiaea. The district developed ambitious plans to preserve the wetlands and to translocate the plants to a 7.6-acre preserve surrounding the school on two sides.
Two trends are impacting long-term native habitat mitigation projects in California: (1) regulatory agency compliance checks have become more frequent, and (2) depleted municipal budgets have seriously curtailed spending on effective project oversight. The following tips for avoiding unnecessary costs due to regulatory violations, extended maintenance, or remedial repair work are offered by the habitat
Santa Margarita Water District’s new 244-million-gallon Upper Chiquita Reservoir is the largest domestic water reservoir built in south Orange County since the 1970s. Built on 27-acres of canyon slope, the reservoir is located in the South Orange County Sub-region Natural Community Conservation Plan/Master Streambed Alteration Agreement/Habitat Conservation Plan (NCCP/MSAA/HCP) and San Juan Creek and Western
Public agencies may now find it advantageous to develop wetland mitigation banks rather than pursue project-specific mitigation due to rule changes by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The regulatory change is an effort to develop watershed-based planning. Mitigation banks create larger wetlands projects with greater ecological functions and sustainability
