SAN JACINTO WILDLIFE AREA: Water deal would limit wetland supplies
Waterfowl flock to Mystic Lake after rains in the San Jacinto Wildlife Area in 2005.
State and local water officials want to cut by more than half the maximum supply of recycled water that can be purchased to replenish the San Jacinto Wildlife Area, raising calls by environmentalists for more scrutiny.
Under a 1987 agreement, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife can buy as much as 4,500 acre-feet of treated wastewater from Eastern Municipal Water District to pump into the wildlife area, providing habitat for waterfowl and other animals and plants.
The agreement expires June 30, and a new proposal would limit the allocation to 2,200 acre-feet a year for the next 20 years. The state currently pays $63 per acre-foot. Under the new proposal, the rate would start out the same and be adjusted for inflation.
Eastern spokesman Kevin Pearson said the smaller allocation is based on the amount of water actually used by the wildlife area in the past 10 years.
Andrew Hughan, of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said in an email that the water pact would fit with long-term objectives âto develop and manage SJWA for the benefit of wildlife and the public.â
He added: âThe department has never used more than the smaller allocation, and the departmentâs ability to purchase water for SJWA, as with its other wildlife areas, is always subject to available funding.â
Local environmentalists say that limiting the water to 2,200 acre-feet would curtail eventual expansion of pond, marsh and creek habitats in the wildlife area between Perris and San Jacinto â" an expansion envisioned in the existing agreement. The new water limit also would make it more difficult to maintain existing wetlands during future dry years, they say.
Tom Paulek, a retired state biologist, said the proposed water pact will have environmental consequences and should be studied.
âThis deal needs transparency. It is something that needs to be analyzed in an environmental document,â said Paulek, who managed the wildlife area between 1991 and 2006. An Idyllwild resident, he is active with a group called Friends of the Northern San Jacinto Valley.
Pearson said the water deal is not subject to environment reviews under state law. It is akin to other agreements the water district has to sell reclaimed water for farming, school grounds, road medians and landscaping, he said.
âWe are simply selling the water,â said Pearson, adding that demand for recycled water is increasing.
The water district normally charges $97.50 per acre-foot for recycled water from May through October and $57 per acre-foot during the cooler months. The stateâs $63 per acre-foot is a specially negotiated rate.
The state established the San Jacinto Wildlife Area in the early 1980s to help make up for wetland habitat destroyed by the California Water Project, an extensive system of dams and canals that stretch from Northern to Southern California.
The wildlife area encompasses a network of ponds and wetlands on about 10,000 acres off of Davis Road and along the path of the San Jacinto River, which flows on to Lake Elsinore.
The area is home to hundreds of species of plants and animals. Itâs also an important stop for migratory waterfowl, and is one of the few public places in Southern California that allows duck hunting.
The wildlife area also is renowned among birders as a place to view hawks, falcons and other birds of prey.
Endangered species there include a song bird, the least Bellâs vireo, and the San Jacinto Valley crownscale, a plant that grows as pools dry up after winter rains.
A separate 9,000-acre section of the wildlife area is located in the Potrero Canyon area between Hemet and Beaumont.
The wildlife area also an important piece of a 500,000-acre wildlife reserve being assembled by Riverside County and most of the cities in the western part of the county. The reserve system is intended to provide a refuge for 146 sensitive plant and animal species to counter habitat losses to development.
Contact David Danelski at 951-368-9471 or firstname.lastname@example.org