And more of what's happening along the SoCal coast
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$50 million down payment may preserve 384 coastal acres
By Heather McRea | This week in Coast Lines: Environmentalists have about a year to raise $47 million more to close a deal on buying the undeveloped Banning Ranch.
Plus, environmentalists are calling for more care in naval training after two whales were dragged into port on the hull of a destroyer, and the Surfrider Foundation gives it Clean Water Report.
Here’s what’s happening along the Southern California coast. | | | Deal struck to buy Banning Ranch, now fundraising begins
Environmentalists are celebrating a deal struck between the Trust for Public Lands and owners of 384 acres of Newport Beach's Banning Ranch to purchase the property for $97 million and keep it forever undeveloped.
The resulting public nature preserve would be in a league with Upper Newport Bay, the Bolsa Chica wetlands and Torrey Pines State Reserve ... if $47 million can be raised by the end of June 30, 2022.
A $50 million gift from Newport Beach developer and philanthropist Frank Randall and his wife, Joann, had already put the effort past the half-way mark and was what got the landowner to the negotiating table, officials said.
Read the story. | Environmental group wants more protections from naval training
Two whales had to be dislodged from the hull of an Australian naval ship participating in joint training exercises off the Southern California coast.
While whale deaths have been very limited, the Center for Biological Diversity is threatening a lawsuit if the Pentagon and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration don't look further at how naval training can affect marine mammals and add to the practices already in place to protect life.
“When the Navy trains, we employ protective measures we’ve worked hard with NOAA to put in place,” said Cmdr. Sean Robertson, a Navy spokesman. Those include 24-7 lookouts, avoiding disruption to mating, migrating and feeding periods and creating safety ranges when sonars or explosives are used.
Read the story.
| | | Stopping sewage spills is key
In its Clean Water Report this year, the Surfrider Foundation is flagging the importance of keeping sewer systems maintained to prevent harmful backups and spills.
“Sewage spills and failing wastewater infrastructure threaten coastal water quality by discharging raw and under-treated sewage into local waterways and the ocean," the report says, warning the country's wastewater infrastructure has suffered years of neglect and needs investment.
Surfrider also offers a garden solution to the miles of impermeable surfaces that funnel contaminated water straight to the ocean with no natural filtering.
Read the story. | What else?
California's drought is expected to worsen throughout the summer ... from what's already been rated "severe" to "extreme."
Read the story.
A Hermosa Beach lifeguard tower is being painted in rainbow colors to honor the LGBTQ community, thanks to a local teen and their family.
Read the story.
Pack a cooler if visiting the Long Beach sand, it will be awhile before the concession stands open.
Read the story.
| | | In the ocean
A strange eel with googly eyes and a long snout with backward teeth washed ashore in San Clemente. It's the second creature that is supposed to be thousands of feet deep under water but instead showed up on a local shore this month.
Read the story. |
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