Engineers Corps January 13, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the Westminster watershed ecosystem and look for multipurpose recommendations for how to more effectively manage its natural resources. There is a need for both flood control improvements as well as ecosystem habitat restoration. The study area is located in western Orange County, CA, approximately 25 miles southeast of the City of Los Angeles. The Westminster watershed lies on a flat coastal plain, is approximately 90 square miles in area, and is almost entirely urbanized with residential and commercial development. There are two main channel systems that collect runoff from portions of urbanized areas in the cities of Anaheim, Stanton, Cypress, Orange, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Westminster, Fountain Valley, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, and Huntington Beach. The East Garden Grove-Wintersburg Channel (EGGW), with its principal tributary, the Ocean View Channel (OV), drains into Bolsa Bay. Two retarding basins (Haster and West Street) exist at the upstream reach of the EGGW channel. Bolsa Bay includes the Bolsa Chica Lowlands and Ecological Reserve, and is a major environmental resource in southern California. The Bay has been designated as an area of national significance, and is host to a wide assemblage of resident and migratory waterfowl and marine species including over 30 Federal and/or State listed sensitive species that utilize the wetlands during all or part of their annual cycle. The Bolsa Chica Flood Control Channel (BCFC), with its principal tributaries, the Anaheim-Barber City Channel and Westminster Channel, drains to Huntington Harbour. The BCFC Channel drains the western portion of the study area, with a significant portion of property adjacent to the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station of the U.S. Navy and 1.5 miles runs through and adjacent to the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Training Base. Aside from the military facilities, this portion of the watershed is almost entirely urbanized. Agriculture is still practiced under leases granted by the Navy on portions of their property. The BCFC Channel outlets into Huntington Harbour, but unlike EGGW, does not outlet into Bolsa Bay. The sole ocean outlet for both Bolsa Bay and Huntington Harbour is to the north at Anaheim Bay and the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge. Tidal influence in the lowermost portion of the BCFC and East Garden Grove-Wintersburg Channels extended approximately 2 miles inland.