TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to enter into a nonexclusive Right of Entry Permit with Orange County Coastkeeper, a nonprofit organization, to enhance and expand the existing Olympia Oyster beds at Jack Dunster Marine Biological Reserve, from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2020, with one, two-year renewal option through December 31, 2022. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
On June 21, 2011, the City Council approved a Right-of-Entry Permit with California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), to restore native Olympia Oysters (Ostrea Lurida) at Jack Dunster Marine Biological Reserve (Dunster) in Alamitos Bay. The Olympia Oyster is the only oyster native to California, and since the early 1900s, has experienced substantial population decline throughout its historical range, from Sitka Alaska to Baja California, Mexico. A single adult oyster can filter 50 gallons of water a day consuming plankton, thereby allowing sunlight to penetrate the water and allowing aquatic vegetation to flourish. Oyster beds also provide habitat that attract fish, crustaceans, and other marine life. The CSUF project, which was a partnership with Orange County Coastkeeper (Coastkeeper), ended in 2016. While the project was a success, stormwater sediment, erosion, and nearby dredging has degraded the Dunster oyster bed.
Dunster is a 2.7-acre park containing 1.5-acres of land and 1.2-acres of shallow water along the northwesterly side of the Los Cerritos Channel adjacent to the Pete Archer Rowing Center. The public can observe the oyster bed created by CSUF at low tide via access from a meandering pathway, as well as a gangway to two floating observation platforms and one floating dock. The oyster bed is partially protected from potentially erosive currents and boat wakes in the Los Cerritos Channel by a floating breakwater. The protected nature of Dunster provides ideal conditions for oyster bed habitat.
Recently, the Park...
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