Wetlands plan given go-ahead by council

For longtime Costa Mesans it may be hard to believe that the lower portion of Fairview Park might soon be filled with ponds, streams, trees and shrubs, but the city plans to start making that vision a reality next month.

The park, situated just below Estancia High School, has long been little more than a barren, arid dirt lot with seasonal grasses growing on the hillsides. But with the help of $1 million from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and $250,000 each from the city’s Park Development Funds and a grant from the Habitat Conservation Fund that will all change in October as the first phase of the Fairview Park Wetlands and Riparian Habitat Project begins.

“The area used to be a seasonal creek community. We’re just taking it back to what it was,” said Robert Staples, who’s heading the project.

The City Council unanimously agreed to authorize Staples to go after a $4 million grant from the Wildlife Conservation Board to supplement the funding the city already has in its effort to make six ponds connected by streams and surrounded by sycamore and oak trees and willows. All the project’s plans have been completed and are simply awaiting approval from necessary agencies, but getting the money might be difficult.

“It’s really competitive. It really depends on how many people apply. But now we have plans so we’re in a much better position to be competitive,” Staples said.

The city has applied for the funding a few times and has been denied.

The extra $4 million will be required for the most expensive parts of the project: a system that would transport water from the nearby canal adjacent to the Santa Ana River to create the ponds, and the establishment of nature trails.

Before the Santa Ana River was reined in to prevent flooding to protect surrounding developments, water from the river naturally made the same type of pond habitat the city hopes to install.

After artificially resuscitating the land, Staples says the native vegetation and bodies of water will sustain themselves. For the first three to five years, though, an irrigation system will be needed to provide the necessary water.

Regardless of whether the new grant money comes, heavy machinery will be carted out to Fairview Park and the installation of this irrigation system will be one of the primary orders of business, along with leveling the land and planting trees and shrubs.

Those changes, which constitute the project’s first phase, are expected to be completed in February 2009. In the meantime, park visitors might not be able to use some of the trails while the construction is in progress.

Once complete, the new improvements will initially be fenced off to prevent tampering, but the trails around the area should be reopened.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].