Banking on a cleaner creek

Laguna Creek has a new look where it runs by the Dog Park on Laguna Canyon Road.

Dozens of volunteers provided the manpower for a major landscaping project last month organized by city officials with the expertise of two local landscape architects.

Turf grass was removed along the parkway, sycamore trees and California live oaks were planted, and invasive plants such as pampas grass were hauled out.

Instead of rushing to the ocean, the creek now meanders and even pools beside a willow that covers it on both sides. Some tree stumps have been placed around a table at one point for an inviting grouping.

It may not seem like a dramatic change, but those responsible for the alterations say it is an important milestone for the creek.

“This is how it should look,” Director of Water Quality David Shissler said. “We have slowed the water down, so it percolates into the ground.”

The project was paid for by a $25,000 grant from the Southern California Wetland Recovery Project and funds from the city and environmental groups ? plus $3,000 worth of plants donated by Orange County Nursery.

The result of the $40,000 project is a healthier creek ? and a model for what the entire creek could be in the future.

“It’s a prototype for the rest of the creek,” said Bob Borthwick, a Laguna Beach resident and landscape architect who played a key role in the renovation project. “We want people to know this isn’t just a ditch, it’s a creek.”

It is hoped the project will spark more efforts to clean up and “naturalize” the creek along its seven miles, Shissler said.

The creek was divided into seven sections a number of years ago to provide a way for the creek to be managed better, Borthwick said. The creek begins at Laguna Lakes, located east of El Toro Road.

Three years ago, the city conducted a preliminary study of the creek to determine how best to manage it.

“A biologist worked with homeowners along the creek, who had armored the creek with sandbags, concrete, and in some cases metal,” Shissler said, adding, “This is an example of what can be done.”

The section of creek along the Dog Park is the last part of the creek leading to the beach that is not under concrete or fully channelized as a county flood-control measure, Shissler noted.

While the creek must be controlled at some points to reduce the likelihood of flooding along its banks, those involved in the project hope the improvements at the Dog Park will spur private property owners along the creek’s banks to support similar projects.

“It’s a stepping stone to larger things,” senior Water Quality Analyst Craig Justice said. “With grants from the Southern California Wetlands Recovery project, we could improve the whole stretch of creek.”

Justice said the creek ideally could serve multiple uses ? as natural habitat, recreation, and even transportation.

“The residents near the creek say they want a safer walking path to town,” Borthwick said. A pathway along the creek could provide a safer alternative for pedestrians than the narrow and winding, and heavily-trafficked, Laguna Canyon Road.

Local efforts to improve the creek are mirrored at the county level, where officials are moving to create a watershed group with representatives from all the entities that have jurisdiction over the seven-mile-long creek, Shissler said.

“We are working with the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System, a part of the federal Clean Water Act, to get grants to support watershed efforts,” Shissler said.

Borthwick, who is also a paid consultant on the city’s Village Entrance project, said he sees the entire creek ? and Laguna Canyon Road ? as part of that effort.

“The whole canyon is the village entrance,” Borthwick said.

The next step will be the placement of a kiosk at the bridge leading to the Dog Park, with photographs and information about the plants and animals that inhabit the creek. The kiosk is expected to be in place by the end of the month.DON LEACH / COASTLINE PILOT(LA)Bob Borthwick, Craig Justice, and David Shissler, left to right, chat next to creek restoration project which included the efforts of 50 volunteers to clear non-native brush and the planting of several new trees, including a California Live Oak at right.cpt.17-creek-2-dl-CPhotoInfoDG1P0KHT20060317iw78ndknDON LEACH / COASTLINE PILOT(LA)Laguna Canyon creek shines through after clearing of non-native shrubs and bamboo with the help of 50 volunteers.