Attorneys representing animal activists and ocean users have battled for years over the intended use of La Jolla’s Children’s Pool, mainly regarding a harbor seal colony that converted the beach into their rookery. In an effort to comply with a judge’s 2005 order to return the area to its 1941 configuration, San Diego city staff compiled an environmental report last month, analyzing potential impacts from dredging the sand and looking at alternatives, including opening four breakwater sluiceways. According to the March 23 draft environmental impact report (DEIR), even if the city removed the seal colony, the spawning seasons of two additional protected species would continue to prohibit projects in the area except for four months of the year. La Jolla’s harbor seal colony is protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), which prohibits projects including dredging during the colony’s “pupping season,” typically December through June, according to the DEIR issued by the City of San Diego Development Services Department (DSD). But the spiny lobster and grunion spawn November to May and March to June, the report says. “The proposed project and subsequent maintenance activities could result in potential impacts to unique, rare, endangered, sensitive, or fully protected species,” DSD staff said. According to the DEIR, an archaeological site sits close to the Children’s Pool. During available months, construction crews must hire a biological monitor and an archeological monitor, the report said. “… It must be assumed that deeper sands potentially containing cultural resources could be affected, thus leading to a finding that significant impacts on archaeological resources could result,” staff reported. “The Children’s Pool [cement] breakwater was originally constructed in 1931 to reduce wave action and create a shallow, calm swimming area for human use,” DSD reported. The proposed project includes three primary components: city crews would excavate sand, transfer it to decontaminate it and then replace it for reconfiguration. Crews would maintain the reconfigured Children’s Pool every two to five years. “Specifically, excavated sand from Casa Beach will be transferred in 200-300 cubic yard increments by a front end loader… up the beach access ramp… to a conveyor system,” DSD reported. “Because the sand is known to contain unsafe levels of fecal coliform, it will first be decontaminated by exposing it to the sun’s ultraviolet rays.” Construction crews will spread contaminated sand in 1- to 2-foot-thick layers, expose it to ultraviolet rays and rake it until bacteria counts return to safe levels, the DEIR said, adding that “since sand buildup on Casa Beach and in the pool will likely occur after project construction, maintenance of the restored condition… will consist of smaller scale sand excavation and transfer every two to five years.” DSD staff analyzed alternate options, including year-round and seasonal joint use; no project; and opening the sluiceways. “The four breakwater sluiceways would be opened instead of dredging in order to increase water circulation in the Children’s Pool and potentially reduce the level of contamination in the water and the sand,” DSD reported. According to the city, the four sluiceways — openings below the cement breakwater — are cemented shut beneath about 7 feet of sand. Although city workers would initially need to remove about the same amount of sand, according to the report, this alternative would most likely have a beneficial effect on water and sand quality, the report said. “This alternative could have a beneficial effect on water quality as the open sluiceways would provide increased water flow in and out of the pool therefore improving water quality,” DSD reported. “Sand movement through the sluiceways could provide a beneficial effect on the sand, potentially decreasing contamination levels.” Regarding biological resources, “the amount of sand… would be minimal,” the report said, and would not impact the surrounding habitat. City staff said the Year-round Joint Use Alternative would “allow seals and humans to use the Children’s Pool at will.” But the health risks to humans would increase and seals might be harassed, the report said. The Seasonal Joint Use Alternative allows humans to use Casa Beach and the Children’s Pool July 1 through Jan. 1 and seals take possession from Jan. 2 through June 30, DSD said. Although staff said these alternatives lessen biological impacts, both would have potentially significant impacts on human health, public safety and hazardous materials, and water quality; and the Seasonal Joint Use Alternative would affect recreational resources. The city looked at a “no project alternative” but said that would “not achieve any of the basic project objectives… nor would it comply with the court order to return the Children’s Pool to its 1941 configuration.” Meanwhile, Bryan Pease, attorney for the Animal Protection and Rescue League’s Sealwatch, announced Tuesday that “SB428 just passed in committee and could be voted on by the assembly as soon as Thursday. This is the bill to allow the San Diego seals to remain at Casa Beach.” Pease petitioned San Diego City Council members to create legislation that would move to the state legislature, adopting additional wording to the state’s 1931 tideland grant at La Jolla’s Children’s Pool. According to Pease, adding the phrase “marine mammal wildlife viewing” to the area’s list of uses would help solve years of battling between ocean users and animal activists. Pease said he hopes the senate bill, sponsored by state Sen. Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego), would negate the need for dredging and chasing seals away from the Children’s Pool. “The federal court has not issued its ruling yet regarding keeping the temporary restraining order in effect that I obtained last October and argued the Friday before last in favor of keeping,” Pease said. DSD staff said the city would not need to mitigate for seven areas under the California Environmental Quality Act, including land use; aesthetics and neighborhood character; geology and soils; hydrology and water quality; recreational resources; transportation and circulation; and human health, public safety and hazardous materials. “The evaluation of environmental issue areas in this EIR concludes that the proposed project would result in significant but mitigable direct and indirect impacts to biological resources and historic resources, [such as archeology],” staff from the City of San Diego’s office of the Environmental Planner reported in the DEIR. They did not identify significant unmitigated impacts. For more information about the Children’s Pool, visit www.childrenspool.org, www.aprl.org or www.friends ofthechildrenspool.com.