Point Reyes Light - November 15, 2001

Woolsey gets $750,000 to finish lagoon study

By Patrik Jorgensen

Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey has announced that the project to restore Bolinas Lagoon will receive $750,000 in federal funds as part of Congress’ approval of a new Energy and Water Bill.

"The environment is always a top priority in Marin County, and with this funding we are able ... to complete the design of the Bolinas Lagoon restoration project," Woolsey said.

The lagoon has been silting over time. Some of the causes cited include animal grazing and heavy logging that began in the mid-1800s and lasted for decades. Also blamed by some is the artificial stabilization of the Seadrift sandspit through the construction of homes.

Tons of silt

The US Geological Survey last year estimated that as much as 138,000 tons of sediment have entered the lagoon yearly through the mouth. Local creeks have added an additional 4,900 tons per year. Indeed, last year and in other years, accumulated sediment has made it impossible for fishermen to get their boats out of the lagoon.

The US Army Corps of Engineers and Bolinas Lagoon Foundation will be in charge of compiling the Feasibility Report said Donna Shepard of the Corps of Engineers. The first draft of the report will be due in December, she said, adding that a public review period will then take place. The final draft should be ready sometime next spring.

The money will be spent on finishing a feasibility study for the multimillion-dollar project. A draft report compiled by the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Bolinas Lagoon Foundation is set to be aired in December, followed by a period of public review, explained Shepard.

Lots of choices

The Army Corps intends to combine several different ideas into one coherent project that will increase the lagoon’s tidal flow. A third of the lagoon’s subtidal and deepwater habitat has been lost in the last 30 years, according to estimates.

Options include:

• Seadrift Lagoon, four variations – Open the lagoon, which is locked within the Seadrift sandspit, to tidal flushing by placing larger culverts at the two existing culvert locations; create two 20-foot open channels; open only the northwest end of the Seadrift lagoon to tidal flushing; or change nothing.

• South Lagoon Channel – Connect the eastern culverts of Seadrift lagoon to Bolinas Lagoon’s main channel.

• North Basin – Would restore a basin in the northern end of the lagoon to increase intertidal and subtidal habitat. Creation of the basin would also help to maintain the Main channel.

• Main Channel – Deepen four sections of the main channel and remove an island.

• Bolinas Channel – Remove sediment from the channel between Kent Island and downtown Bolinas. Sediment would be removed up to the Pine Gulch Creek delta.

• Highway 1 fill areas – Ten areas that include pullouts, fill disposal sites, and wide shoulders would be removed.

• Dipsea Road fill area - Remove fill along the east side of Dipsea Road.

• Kent Island – A historic channel system would be dug through Kent Island. The main portion of channel would measure 200 feet wide with three smaller channels measuring 75 feet wide.

• Pine Gulch Creek delta – Remove sediment.

Shepard said the research part of this project has cost roughly $2 million so far. "That’s a 50-50 split between federal dollars and non-federal sponsors like the Marin County Open Space District," she added. If everything goes according to plan, the actual work could begin in 2004.

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