TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a Second Amendment to Right-of-Entry Permit No. P-00202 with Orange County Coastkeeper, a nonprofit organization of Costa Mesa, CA, to continue to monitor the restored Olympia Oyster beds at Jack Dunster Marine Biological Reserve, from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2025. (District 3)
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. Olympia Oysters are the only oyster species native to the West Coast and their populations have plummeted due to anthropogenic causes. Oysters greatly benefit the coast, including Alamitos Bay, by not only filtering and cleaning the water, but also providing habitat for a wide assortment of organisms to use.
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 (Attachment A). 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 by a floating breakwater. The protected nature of Dunster provides ideal conditions for oyster bed habitat.
The initial CSUF project, in partnership with Orange County Coastkeeper, was a success and concluded in 2016; but, additional factors including erosion, dredging, and sedimentation degraded the oyster bed. On December 4, 2018, the City Council approved Right-of-Entry Permit No. P-00202 with Orange County Coastkeeper to both restore the damaged oyster bed and expand the oyster bed area through 2020. The First Amendment to Permit No. P-00202 extended the term to December 31, 2022.
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