The Batiquitos Lagoon Enhancement Project is perhaps the largest wetland restoration project ever undertaken as mitigation for a port project in the United States, and it has been well worth the effort. The goal of the Port to obtain permits and approvals to construct land from dredge material and to develop new cargo terminals were realized as a result of the Batiquitos restoration. The restoration has proven to be an environmental success not only in mitigating resources lost in the Outer Los Angeles Harbor but also because of the many enhancements that came with it. Along the way, the project has received several awards, including

• the American Institute of Architects' "Orchid Award"
• the California Geotechnical Engineers Association's "Outstanding Project of the Year"
• the Public Relations Society of America" "Audio Visual Award"
• the San Diego Public Relation Society's award for "Continuing Public Relations"

The Batiquitos Lagoon Enhancement also received the prestigious Calvin Hurst Award for Environmental Excellence in 1998, from the American Association of Port Authorities.

Ecological Benefits

The restoration of Batiquitos Lagoon has mitigated the loss of deepwater marine fish habitat in the Outer Los Angeles Harbor. Opening the lagoon has allowed marine fish similar to those found in the Outer Los Angeles Harbor to use this area for feeding, reproduction, and, most importantly, as a nursery. Several fish species, including the commercially important California halibut, use such shallow protected embayments as nursery grounds. There are many other benefits that have resulted from the restoration:

• Nesting habitat for two protected bird species, the California least tern and the western snowy plover, has been secured.



• The coastal salt marsh has been enhanced as a result of the introduction of tides into the lagoon.



• Tidal mud flats now provide feeding habitat for spring migrating shorebirds



• Flood and sediment control is provided because rain and fine upland sediment can escape to the ocean.



• Improved water quality prohibits the eutrophication process in the lagoon and stops odor problems



• Nourishment of local beaches with white sand has made the area appealing for recreation, which has benefited City of Carlsbad residents and the tourist trade.



• The community outreach portion of the project provided valuable educational materials and helped establish a docent program for the local lagoon foundation.



• Project construction provided direct and indirect economic benefits to Carlsbad and the surrounding area.

Physical Functioning of Lagoon

When Batiquitos Lagoon was opened, a tidal inlet study was conducted to measure and document the hydraulic and physical characteristics of the lagoon. High flood and ebb flow velocities were large enough to maintain an open inlet. As expected, ebb and flood bars typical of such inlets formed, with the ebb bar composed mainly of cobble and the flood bar composed of sand. Numerical model prediction used during the design phase of the project was verified and confirmed to predict the water level fluctuations in each basin and the current velocities under each bridge.

Fish

Biological monitoring of the lagoon fish community shows that the lagoon is quickly becoming like other healthy coastal embayment systems in California. The lagoon has been transformed from a system of fewer than eight species of brackish and freshwater fish to a system of more than 40 marine species. The lagoon is also functioning as a nursery area for some important commercial and sport fish in southern California, such as the California halibut and the white sea bass. Within a year of opening the lagoon, more than 500 juvenile halibut were captured there.

Birds

Before the restoration, Batiquitos Lagoon was an important resource for birds. In winter, when the lagoon was flooded with fresh water, large numbers of waterfowl would use the lagoon. During autumn of some years, when there was little water in the lagoon, large numbers of shorebirds could be found on the nontidal mudflats of the lagoon. Since the lagoon opened, the number of bird species and individuals has remained high. In fact, spring-migrating shorebirds, which historically could not use the lagoon because of high water levels, are now found feeding on the intertidal mudflats in abundance.

Endangered Species

One of the success stories of the lagoon restoration is that endangered and threatened bird species are using the 32 acres of new sand nesting sites created during the project. Before construction, fewer than 50 nests of the California least tern (on the federal and state endangered species lists) were present at the lagoon in a good year. As nest sites were built, the presence of the tern increased to nearly 300 pairs. Fewer than five nests of the western snowy plover (federally listed as threatened) were found at the lagoon before the project; by 1996, more than 35 plover nests were found at the lagoon. An unexpected addition was that black skimmers began nesting at the lagoon; this species was not known to nest anywhere in San Diego County before the restoration.

To learn more about the current state of the lagoon ecology, please visit the Ecology Story section of the site. You can also access the annual monitoring reports in the Resources section of the site.

Port Development Benefits

The economic benefits associated with the construction of the Port's Deep Draft Navigation Project, which includes the Pier 400 landfill, were dependent on initiating the restoration of Batiquitos Lagoon. These economic benefits included

• nearly $350 million in construction expenditures for deepening the channel and disposing of dredge material in Pier 400



• future navigation savings yielded by efficiencies in cargo transport by fewer and larger vessels



• ability to use undeveloped land in the Port (Pier 300), which was constrained by bottom depth.

Also, the deepening of channels to Pier 300 has allowed construction of the $200 million American President Line Container Terminal and the $180 million Los Angeles Export Terminal, which handles coal and petroleum coke. Both facilities are presently operating. Together, these projects generated an estimated 2,900 construction jobs annually in the five-county Southern California region. These "direct" jobs, as well as the employment the projects stimulated through the use of materials and the income spent by employees, totaled more than 12,500 jobs in this region. These benefits do not account for the many jobs resulting from operation of these terminals or the construction and operation of the terminals on Pier 400.

Development Project

Terminals on Pier 300 have been completed and became operational in 1997. Construction of Pier 400 has also been completed and the world's largest proprietary container terminal became operational there in August 2002. Permits for these developments would not have been approved had the restoration of Batiquitos Lagoon not been part of the mitigation package.

Cost Effectiveness

The overall cost of enhancing Batiquitos Lagoon was approximately $57 million; this figure includes planning, permitting, design, and management/administrative costs, as well as funding of the long-term maintenance program. The restoration allows the filling of 381 acres of deep harbor water. The cost of the restoration is, therefore, approximately $150,000 per acre of land created in the Outer Los Angeles Harbor and is approximately 10% of land construction costs at Pier 400. These costs allow for the Port's standard rate of return on investment from the operation of terminals created at the Port, and do not include the relative economic benefits being derived from the operation of terminals on Pier 300 and Pier 400, which also were developed as a consequence of the Batiquitos Lagoon restoration.

Cost savings were realized during the restoration project through the use of dredges to contour the eastern basin and the in-lagoon disposal of dredge material. The alternative to dredging (land-based equipment with operating pads) would have been more costly. Upland disposal, with associated dewatering requirements and traffic impacts, or off-shore disposal of lagoon mud would have been more costly than in-lagoon disposal. Long-term financial liability for maintaining the lagoon was capped through provisions of the Batiquitos interagency mitigation agreement, while allowing funds for perpetual maintenance.

Transferability to Port Industry

The Batiquitos Lagoon mitigation process included components that can and have been used by the port industry.

• Interagency mitigation agreements: Although interagency mitigation agreements are not a new concept, some specific provisions of the Batiquitos agreement may be useful to others. Many copies of this agreement have been requested by others in the industry and in many other countries.



• In-lagoon burial of dredge materials: In-lagoon burial and capping as a feasible way to dispose of fine dredge materials is finding use in similar projects. This method had been used in a dredging project at Aqua Hedionda Lagoon near Batiquitos Lagoon, and has been proposed as part of the Bolsa Chica wetlands restoration presently in the planning stage.



• Integration of environmental planning with engineering: The integration of environmental planning with engineering expertise and modeling allowed alternative designs to be tested for feasibility early in the process.



• Specialized construction techniques: Custom methods were used to control water levels, create flat intertidal slopes, and cap the central basin disposal pit; these techniques may be useful for similar projects elsewhere. The project team review of construction submittals was critical in protecting the lagoon resources during construction.

One of the most significant benefits is that the state coastal vegetated wetlands and their numerous functions have been enhanced and expanded without loss of wetlands at the Port development site, which is deep water habitat.

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