THE WHY |
Plans for Ormond Beach, wetlands lack cohesion
A bureaucratic bog
Carpeted with sod farms that border aging industrial buildings, a creaky power plant and the Halaco Superfund cleanup site, Ormond Beach is a world away from the clean streets of Copenhagen. But the debate surrounding climate change and rising sea levels at the United Nations summit over the past two weeks might have more bearing on this corner of Oxnard than anywhere else in Ventura County. With the land rising to no more than about a dozen feet above sea level in some spots, the area is vulnerable to the most conservative state estimates of a 4-foot rise in ocean levels over the next 100 years. "It’s not a matter of if," said local activist Larry Godwin. "It’s a matter of how fast and how high." Ventura County Star 200912191755
Ormond Beach Wetlands
Restoration Project California State Coastal Conservancy
Ormond Beach is a 1,500-acre area composed of agriculture, industry, and wetlands. A two-mile-long beach extends from Port Hueneme to the northwestern boundary of Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station, which encompasses Mugu Lagoon. Although the wetlands have been drained, filled and degraded over the past century, this is one of the few areas in southern California with an intact dune-transition zone/marsh system. The Ormond Beach area hosts over 200 migratory bird species and more shorebird species are known to use Ormond Beach than any other site in Ventura County.
HARBOR WANTS
ORMOND BEACH
From an e-mail sent by Ormond Beach activists Shirley and Larry Godwin
At the end of the Ormond Beach Task Force meeting today (Nov 19) we finally heard from Anthony Taormina, Executive Director of the Harbor District, what he and others at the Harbor District didn't want to tell us. This is what he said:
The 33 acres [33 acres left of the 38-acre proposed Gateway Park site] is zoned light industrial, and the harbor will take it and any other zoned light industrial land at Ormond. The Harbor District will not buy or develop the land but will have that done by companies that do business with the Harbor. This will be done with or without a harbor overlay.
Aren't dictatorial, government-sponsored and
authorized tax-collecting entities, nice? So much
for democracy in our own nation! Oxnard sees
no direct benefit from the Harbor District.
![]() Photos courtesy Alan Sanders
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![]() Since the founding of our nation, the area now containing the State of California has lost 91% of its wetlands. Here in Oxnard we personally experience the harm done with our "years of the spiders, the flies and the gnats" Some bird species that normally visit us skipped those years, or were driven away from overcrowding by other species. As we continue to overpopulate our state, it is imperative that we restore what wetlands we can. If we fail, we do so at our children's and their children's peril. These pages try to explain and to prove that assertion. Fuller's Report Special Birds Seen At Ormond Beach: Northern Fulmar, California Condor (reported seen feeding on a seal carcass), Snowy Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers, Virginia Rail, Peregrine Falcon, White Ibis, Egrets, Great Blue Heron, Black Rail, Western Grebe, Surf Scoters, Black Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, Belted Kingfisher, Black Crowned Herons (seen arguing with each other), Red Tailed Hawks, Trumpeter Swans!, White-Tailed Kites, Bald Eagle Fledgling! (seen fishing in the drain between the Perkins Rd. parking lot and the wetlands), three (3!) Golden Plovers, Eared Grebes, Indigo Bunting, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, and Ruddy Ground Dove. The last three were seen by Auduboners at Ormond Beach and are firsts in these parts. Also, on June 14, an informal count at Ormond netted 31 Snowy Plover nests and 48 Least Tern nests. | ||||
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NEW ORMOND VIDEOS ![]() ![]() explaining the importance of Oxnard's Ormond Beach Wetlands: ORMOND: Wetland Wonderland [WMV, 139 MB] Presentation to Planning Commission [WMV, 20 MB] (These files will NOT stream on-line at least not for long!) |
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Oct. 13, 2005 [mp3 audio file - 6 min.] ![]() [ Home | Fuss | Vision | News | Calendar | Maps | Commentary | Links ] |
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Oxnard Coastal Wetlands / Webmaster Originated 21 Feb 2007 |