State regulators are calling out the Orange County Water District for illegally bulldozing a migratory bird nest in the Santa Ana riverbed near Angel Stadium, in the wake of social media alerts from Creek Team activists that triggered widespread concern.
“A nest of a black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) had been impacted in an area where bulldozer tracks and push-piles were present,” concludes a July 7 Notice of Violation to the water district from California’s Fish & Wildlife Department.
“Nesting survey data collected from OCWD further corroborated the nest destruction,” reads the Notice of Violation sent by Erinn Wilson-Olgin, a Fish and Wildlife regional manager for the South Coast region.
Water district officials are contesting the findings of the violation notice, preparing for an upcoming meeting with state regulators by sending them a letter questioning state officials’ interpretation of the district’s nesting studies.
The water district also disputes that a nest was destroyed by their efforts, with officials raising questions about the timing of photographs used by state officials to denote destruction of the nests.
“Based on the information currently available to OCWD, we do not believe the factual record presently supports a conclusion that an unlawful take has occurred, and we respectfully request the opportunity to review the information and evidence supporting that determination,” reads a July 24 letter from OCWD General Manager John C. Kennedy.
That narrative flies in the face of the state violation notice, which calls out water district officials for two specific violations of California’s Fish and Game code – one for the bird nest and another for not adhering to the strict streambed alteration agreement on the sensitive Santa Ana River habitat.
According to the state notice, both violations could result in civil or criminal prosecution.
“The report from CDFW proves what the people of Orange County already know, that local bureaucrats believe they are above the law that the rest of us abide by,” said Creek Team Founder Brent Linas in reaction to the report.
Highlighting the group’s increasing focus on watchdogging streambed alteration agreements, Linas added, “Creek Team intends to hold these groups accountable for their actions. Citizen oversight is crucial to efficient governance, and we intend to fill that role.”
It seems clear that state officials were alerted to the activity by Creek Team activists, with a social media posting by the group on May 28 that included video of bulldozing by contractors on the Santa Ana River.
Creek Team’s monitoring of the Santa Ana River is a direct outgrowth of the civic group’s activism to watchdog local creeks after mounting controversy over the county flood control districts’ use of herbicides in two South County creeks.
The San Juan and Trabuco creeks are now part of a pilot program that paused herbicide use as officials study alternatives for vegetation management.
[Read: OC Supervisors Phase Out Herbicides in San Juan and Trabuco Creeks Near Doheny State Beach]
Reacting to public outcry triggered by the Creek Team Instagram bulldozer posting, OC Water District President Deniss Bilodeau posted a June 2 rebuttal in Instagram, disputing the allegations and said “No birds or habitat have been harmed.”
Yet it seems clear that the very same day as the Creek Team social media post, two state Fish and Wildlife environmental scientists visited the Santa Ana River worksite and noticed the bulldozing violations by a water district contractor.
According to the July 7 state violation notice, state Fish & Wildlife officials came back the next day after their site visit, interviewing a water district supervisor and pointing out that water district officials had failed to notify the state agency before starting work.
Water district officials argue in their letter to the state that they were under the impression that regulatory reviews of work only had to be done annually at the start of the maintenance season.
The state’s environmental scientists also were critical of water district officials in their violation notice, pointing out that despite OCWD having done nesting surveys, “there was no physical delineation of nesting bird buffers observed within the work area, as this condition requires,” according to the violation notice.
Fish & Wildlife’s Regional Manager Wilson-Olgin also wrote, “In addition, maintenance activities occurred within 300 feet of known active nests, which this condition prohibits.”
In the violation notice, Wilson-Olgin said water district officials and contractors need to understand the limitations on work in the Santa Ana River.
“Especially condition 1.5, to avoid harm to birds and other fish and wildlife resources the Santa Ana River supports,” Wilson-Olgin wrote. “OCWD will need to mitigate for the nest destruction.”