Mayor of Long Beach, California, Robert Garcia and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have signed the Federal Cost Share Agreement to begin the East San Pedro Bay Ecosystem Restoration Study.
“ Improving our ecosystem and coastal experience is a win for residents and visitors, and will be a boost to the Long Beach economy ,” said Mayor Robert Garcia. “ This is an opportunity to transform our beaches and our city.”
The East San Pedro Bay Ecosystem Restoration Study will focus primarily on restoring the aquatic ecosystem. Officials will conduct engineering analysis that will include coastal engineering, as well as geotechnical engineering design of any alternative affecting the Long Beach Breakwater, including wave modeling to assess surface wave effects on infrastructure, navigation and recreation, and circulation modeling that will show movement of water within the East San Pedro Bay.
“ We have a unique opportunity, and a challenging task ,” said Maj. Gen. Ed Jackson, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations , “ to investigate together how we can best restore a Southern California coastal marine environment located in a heavily urbanized location, near one of the world’s largest port complexes, at the mouth of one of the nation’s most altered rivers, the Los Angeles River. ”
The signing enables USACE to accept local funding to begin the East San Pedro Bay Ecosystem Restoration Study. The study costs $3 million, and will be shared between the city and the Corps.
The East San Pedro Bay Ecosystem Restoration is the first open ocean ecosystem restoration study to use the Army Corps new 3x3x3 feasibility study model, and could become a model for the Corps ecosystem restoration studies nationwide.
The feasibility study is being conducted in parallel with a proposed Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) for Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach (Weapons Station), which will allow the Department of Defense and local communities to cooperatively develop land use strategies to limit encroachment on the Weapons Station’s mission.
At the same time, the Army Corps and Port of Long Beach are conducting a feasibility study on navigation as part of a future planning effort that will keep the Port of Long Beach on the cutting edge of the trade and goods movement industry.
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