Wetlands restoration plan advaces for Oceanside’s Loma Alta Creek

Almost six acres of wetlands along the Loma Alta Creek near Buccaneer Beach will be restored to a cleaner, more natural state and opened to visitors under a plan recently approved by the Oceanside Planning Commission.

“The slough provides nesting and foraging habitats for marsh and shoreline birds,” Senior Planner Shannon Vitale told the commission on Monday. “Due to urbanization adjacent to the slough, water quality issues and degraded habitat have been ongoing since the 1960s.”

The city has been acquiring private property along the creek since the 1990s and now owns six parcels for the project, stretching east to west along the creek from Pacific Street to South Coast Highway. State and federal grants have been obtained for the planning completed so far and are expected to cover construction costs.

Improvements will include a 6-foot-wide pedestrian trail of decomposed granite along the north side of the creek, from South Coast Highway under the railroad bridge and connecting with a future segment of the Coastal Rail Trail still being planned.

“Educational signs installed along the path will have information about wetland habitats, native animals found in the slough and the Loma Alta watershed,” Vitale said. “These efforts are expected to provide ecological, educational and aesthetic benefits.”

The Planning Commission unanimously approved a development plan for the project. The California Coastal Commission approved it in June.

Oceanside has been working on the project for more than 20 years and has held community meetings to publicize it and gather opinions. The city received a $400,000 grant in 2018 from the State Coastal Conservancy to begin the design, also $1 million from the California Ocean Protection Council in June 2022 to go toward construction costs.

Construction is set to begin next year and could cost $2.2 million or more. Additional grant applications have been submitted and are expected to cover the full cost.

Plans are underway for the adjacent La Salina wastewater treatment plant to be decommissioned after a pump station is built to pipe sewage inland to the San Luis Rey treatment plant.

After that, the Oceanside City Council will decide what to do the with the decommissioned property. Some residents have suggested it be connected to the wetlands area.

Loma Alta Creek is about seven miles long and drains about 10 square miles, mostly in Oceanside, but also in parts of Vista and unincorporated San Diego County.