The Los Cerritos Wetlands restoration project recently moved forward with a recent grant from the California Coastal Conservancy.
The conservancy gave “a grant of $31,852,000 to the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority for the Southern Los Cerritos Wetlands Restoration Project,” wrote District One City Council Member Joe Kalmick in a recent email. “This is 103.5 acres within the City of Seal Beach (the former Hellman Ranch that is adjacent to our Gum Grove Park),” Kalmick wrote.
“This will cover the planning and permitting for restoration and for providing for public access to the project acreage, construction of an initial phase of the restoration and public access improvements of the Project site, and management of the wetlands,” Kalmick wrote.
“This is wonderful news for all that have been fighting for the preservation of this important piece of land, and for our City, which will be able to claim this natural asset as a part of what makes Seal Beach special,” Kalmick wrote.
“The Coastal Conservancy is a state agency, established in 1976, to protect and improve natural lands and waterways, to help people get to and enjoy the outdoors, and to sustain local economies along California’s coast. The Conservancy is a non-regulatory agency that supports projects to protect coastal resources and increase opportunities for the public to enjoy the coast,” according to the Coastal Conservancy website.
The Coastal Conservancy created the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority because the wetlands straddle the borders of the counties of Los Angeles and Orange as well as the borders of the cities of Long Beach and Seal Beach.
Editor’s note: This article contains corrections to an error that appeared in the headline concerning the amount of the state grant and another error that misidentified the state agency issuing the grant.
