Kelp Reef Mitigation Project
The SCE Kelp Reef Mitigation Project is designed to mitigate the estimated impact on kelp bed habitat by the cooling water systems for San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) Units 2&3. The California Coastal Commission’s (CCC’s) 1997 revised coastal development permit (# 6-81-330-A) for SONGS Units 2&3 includes the kelp mitigation requirement. The 1997 permit specifies that 150 acres of kelp reef are to be constructed, and that the project be constructed in two phases. The first phase, the experimental or test phase, would allow for the determination of the optimal reef design by testing design parameters necessary to provide a persistent giant kelp forest and associated ecosystem. The preferred and CCC-approved site for this project, after considering areas from San Diego through Orange County, was San Clemente. Both the Phase 1, experimental reef, and the final build-out reef, the Wheeler North Reef, were successfully constructed offshore of San Clemente, creating a 2-mile long reef about ½ mile offshore from the beach between San Mateo Point to the south and the City Pier to the north.
Scope of Project – History of the design and permitting phases, 1997-2005
Planning and construction of the Phase 1, Experimental Reef – 1997-1999
Following the CCC’s approval of the SONGS Coastal Development Permit (# 6-81-330-A) amendments in April 1997, SCE submitted a conceptual plan for the Phase 1 reef in June 1997. This plan was reviewed and approved by State and Federal agencies. As lead agency, the State Lands Commission determined that under the requirements of CEQA, a Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) should be prepared to evaluate both the Phase 1 and subsequent full mitigation reef. State Lands Commission began the environmental review process in March 1998, and certified the final PEIR and issued the offshore lease for the experimental Phase 1 reef on June 14, 1999.
The CCC approved the Coastal Development Permit for the Phase 1 reef on July 15, 1999. The final plan approved by the CCC was for an experimental reef located off San Clemente that tested eight different reef designs that varied in substrate composition (quarry rock or recycled concrete), substrate coverage (low, medium, and high),m and presence of transplanted kelp. All eight reef designs were represented as individual 40m x 40m (132ft x 132ft) modules that were replicated in seven areas for a total of 56 artificial reef modules totaling 22.4 acres. The Army Corps of Engineers issued its permit on August 13, 1999, and SCE completed construction of the experimental reef on September 30, 1999.
Monitoring the Phase 1 Experimental Reef – 2000-2004
The CCC contracted scientists from University of California, Santa Barbara, who performed a five-year post-construction monitoring study on the performance of the 56 modules of the Experimental Reef, completing their work in December 2004. Results from the study were very positive in that all six artificial reef designs and all seven locations tested showed a near equally high tendency to meet the performance standards established for the mitigation reef. It was concluded from these finding that a low relief rock reef constructed off the coast of San Clemente had a good chance of providing adequate in-kind compensation for the loss of kelp forest biota caused by the operation of SONGS Units 2&3.
Scope of Project – Construction of the Phase 2 Wheeler North Reef, 2006-2008
Mitigation Reef design, planning, and permitting – 2005-2008
With recommendations and approvals from the CCC, the Mitigation Reef was designed to be: 1) built of quarry rock, and 2) built with a seafloor coverage of at least 42%. SCE’s Phase 2, or Mitigation Reef, plan was approved by the CCC on August 8, 2006. The plan called for the addition of 127.6 acres of reef construction to the existing 22.4 acres built in September 1999. The project area was reconfirmed - offshore of San Clemente on an 862-acre parcel leased by SCE from the California State Lands Commission. The design created a low-profile, single layer reef constructed of quarried rock and distributed in quantities similar to those of the lower seafloor-cover densities (approximately 42%). The design consisted of 11 polygons that varied in area from 2.4 acres to 37.5 acres. The reef design achieved the following: 1) locates the final construction site in close proximity to the San Mateo Kelp Bed, near SONGS, 2) avoids existing natural hard substrate areas, 3) maintains the integrity of the experimental reef modules, 4) provides for navigation channels for the local fisherpersons, and 5) avoids areas of historical kelp growth as well as areas of special interest to local fisheries.
The Mitigation Reef was named The Wheeler North Reef in honor of the late Wheeler J. North, a noted Caltech marine biologist whose pioneering research in Pacific kelp contributed to the project’s design.
On October 3, 2007, SCE submitted its Final Plan and a preliminary CDP application for the mitigation reef. The Commission approved CDP #E-07-010 on February 12, 2008.
Mitigation Reef construction and construction verification monitoring – 2008
Construction of the Phase 2 Mitigation Reef, the Wheeler North Reef, began on June 9, 2008 and was completed on September 11, 2008. The Wheeler North Reef was designed as 18 polygons ranging in size from1.35 to 38.88 acres for a total reef area of 153 acres. Approximately 126,000 tons of boulder size quarry rock was used. Quarry rock was obtained from the Pebbly Beach and Empire Quarries on Catalina Island, and the La Piedra Quarry in Ensenada, Mexico. Boulder dimensions averaged 2.3 ft in length, 1.8 ft in width, and 1.4 ft in height. The boulders were hauled to the construction site by barge and precisely cast upon the seafloor within the described boundaries of each polygon in roughly a single-layer. The variation of boulder deposition per polygon ranged from 743 to 987 tons per acre with an average of 829 tons per acre.
Sonar and divers surveys established that the size of the Mitigation Reef is 174.4 acres, which exceeds the minimum 150-acre requirement in the SONGS CDP.
On January 27, 2009, California Coastal Commission staff issued the Notice of Acceptance for condition compliance requiring a final construction report: Edison’s Final Design Plan specifications required by CDP #E-07-010 was successfully accomplished and commended by the CCC.
Wheeler North Reef Dedication – November 10, 2008
More than 100 people – including SONGS employees, SCE executives, community members, local officials, State and Federal agency personnel, and a dozen media outlets – gathered on Nov. 10, 2008 on the San Clemente Pier to celebrate the completion of a nearly 2-mile artificial giant kelp reef just south of the Pier. The $46 million reef – at 174.4-acres is the largest of its kind in the United States – will offset possible negative environmental impacts as sea water taken in to cool the reactors at SONGS and discharged back into the ocean near an existing kelp bed. Dr. North’s family was on hand and honored at the dedication ceremony.
At the ceremony, Cecil House, SCE Senior Vice President of Safety, Operations Support and Chief Procurement Officer, said, "the reef could become the blueprint for how regulators and utilities nationwide can successfully balance essential energy and environmental needs. All human endeavors, including the generation of electricity, have some impact on the environment," he added. "We’re not always in a position to eliminate all of them. But we can give back to the environment enough so that in the end we have both energy and the environment that we need."
"This is not just a flash in the plan, splash in the ocean," said Coastal Commission Executive Director Peter Douglas, who was instrumental in endorsing the project. "This is a sustainable and ongoing effort, and SCE should be commended as a responsible environmental steward and partner."
Performance Monitoring on the Wheeler North Reef
The CCC contract UCSB scientists established 92 permanent transects among the Wheeler North Reef polygons and Phase 1 modules to sample for the reef performance standards monitoring for the next 40 years. Concurrent monitoring of physical and biological attributes of the Wheeler North Reef and two reference reefs (San Mateo and Barn Kelp Beds) is being done annually. Results from the 2009 and 2010 surveys were most recently reported at the annual public review workshop held in Dana Point on April 11, 2011. The next CCC public workshop is scheduled for April 12, 2012 back at the Dana Point Ocean Institute.
Wheeler North Reef – Highlights and performance progress to date, 2011
The completion of the largest U.S. environmental project of its kind – a 174.4-acre artificial giant kelp reef off San Clemente, Calif. – marks the nation’s first sustainable artificial kelp forest attracting many species of coastal fish and invertebrates dependent on such underwater habitats for shelter and food.
The Wheeler North Reef is already thriving ecologically. Rapidly growing giant kelp is creating an underwater forest that serves as a habitat for abundant local marine life of many species. Results of recent studies and independent monitoring indicate that the reef has already fulfilled ten of the 14 criteria set by the California Coastal Commission. Monitoring is performed independently by scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara, under contract to the CCC. Today, besides the ecological benefits already evident, the Wheeler North Reef also heightens recreational opportunities such as fishing and diving in the San Clemente area. SCE has recently engaged the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability to investigate the presence of additional values not being measured by the CCC.
The two-mile kelp forest the Wheeler North Reef has already created is expected to produce as much as 28 tons of fish annually, significantly enhancing Southern California’s coastal environment and recreation resources. The project will fully offset any impact to a nearby natural kelp forest from naturally cloudy ocean water relocated by the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station operated by majority owner Southern California Edison and also owned by San Diego Gas & Electric and the City of Riverside.
Benefits
- The reef has added a significant amount of new marine habitat to the Southern California coastal underwater forest protecting and nourishing as many as 50 varieties of fish and invertebrates.
- The reef has increased Southern California recreational opportunities including fishing and diving.
- SCE believes its environmental projects set a green standard for coastal power plants, providing a model for the use of economical ocean water cooling while effectively restoring environmental impacts.
Because SONGS is majority owned by SCE, along with San Diego Gas & Electric and the City of Riverside, the entities are sharing the cost of the reef. SCE will maintain and monitor the reef as needed for at least the next 40 years to ensure its success. For press coverage, photos and video links, click here.
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