NOAA Earth Day 2010
Magnolia Marsh Wetland Restoration – Huntington Beach, California
NOAA provided $3.3 million in Recovery Act funding to the Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy for the project. Contractors have excavated historic channels within the wetland and later breached a levee to allow ocean water to flow through the marsh. The restored tidal flow will bring back important nursery habitat for many fish, including California halibut. This will lead to other benefits, including improved fishing and tourism.
Magnolia Marsh was once part of a 3,000-acre system of wetlands next to the Santa Ana River that extended several miles inland. Most of these wetlands dried up when rivers were controlled by manmade cannals and when the Pacific Coast Highway had cut them off from the ocean. Today only about 180 acres of wetland remain. Magnolia Marsh is the third coastal wetland segment to be restored in this system, after Brookhurst and Talbert marshes. These wetlands are now being returned to fully functioning ecosystems after nearly 100 years.
“Restoration of Magnolia Marsh represents a special milestone in our organization’s 25-year-long effort to bring life back to the Huntington Beach Wetlands,” said Gordon Smith, chairman of the Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy Board of Directors. “The Magnolia Marsh, situated next to our interpretive center and wildlife hospital, will serve as our showcase for educating the community about the value and sensitivity of our area’s few remaining coastal wetlands.”
From the Event
Child actor Will Shadley, star of the recent film "The Spy Next Door," stands next to the NOAA banner at Magnolia Marsh Wetland. (Credit: John Dutton)
A mallard duck, once injured and rehabilitated, returns to Magnolia Marsh Wetland. (Credit: John Dutton)
Child actor Will Shadley, star of the recent film "The Spy Next Door," helps pot plants in the nearby nursery. These plants will soon be used to provide vegetation at Magnolia. (Credit: John Dutton)
The Sea and Sage Audubon Society booth at the Magnolia Marsh Wetland Restoration Earth Week event. (Credit: John Dutton)
Children learning about fish at the "touch tank" exhibit at Magnolia Marsh Wetland Restoration Earth Week event. (Credit: John Dutton)
Dump trucks sit nearby at Magnolia Marsh Wetland, which is now 90 percent restored. Soon the marsh will be planted with new vegetation to complete its restoration. (Credit: John Dutton)
