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Finding of shrimp delays opening of Mira Mesa school; Tiny crustaceans on endangered list

by Helen Gao, STAFF WRITER
August 1, 2005, The San Diego Union Tribune

Jonas Salk Elementary School in Mira Mesa will open at least a year behind schedule and cost several million dollars more than estimated because of endangered shrimp found at the site.

The school's opening date has been pushed back to September 2007, at the earliest.

The issue has outraged some Mira Mesa residents, whose plans for a community park were dashed five years ago -- also by environmental restrictions.

The 13-acre school site at Parkdale Avenue and Flanders Drive is home to the San Diego fairy shrimp, tiny crustaceans that measure less than an inch long and usually thrive from January to March.

The presence of the fairy shrimp has been documented throughout the county and has limited development and activities from San Diego to Camp Pendleton.

On the federal endangered-species list since 1997, the fairy shrimp live in vernal pools, or shallow depressions on land that fill up with water during rainfall. Their eggs can withstand long dry spells and still hatch once water returns.

According to studies conducted by an environmental consultant for the San Diego Unified School District, there are 98 vernal pools on the site, which has been graded for a school since 1979.

It has been vacant for more than two decades because there had been no need for a new school in Mira Mesa, a district official said. The project was revived in 1998 when voters approved Proposition MM, a $1.51 billion school construction bond. Now a new school is needed to relieve crowding at nearby Mason and Hage elementary schools.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service described the Salk site as having "the largest unprotected vernal pool complex remaining in Mira Mesa."

But Ted Brengel, chairman of the Mira Mesa Community Planning Group, questions the environmental value of the site, a dirt lot with patches of brown chaparral. Over the years, residents have dumped trash, walked their dogs and rode their dirt bikes on the lot.

What's more, he noted, the site is man-made -- created in the late 1970s when Pardee Homes cut down a ridge and filled in two canyons while developing the surrounding neighborhood. The district's environmental consultant asserts that the vernal pools are a "direct result of human intervention." Water pooled on the site because of a berm built to stop runoff, ruts created by off-road vehicles and trenches dug for bicycle jumps, the consultant said. Given the site's history, Brengel said, it's a "travesty" to spend taxpayer money there for environmental preservation.

Brengel pointed out that parkland next to Challenger Middle School has already been set aside to preserve vernal pools and protect the San Diego fairy shrimp. Winterwood Community Park, recently renamed the Sharon Christa McAuliffe Community Park, has been maintained in its natural state.

The city scaled back plans to develop the park in early 2000 after studies revealed vernal pools on the site. Twenty-four acres of the 33-acre park are off-limits to development.

"I honestly believe we have to set aside areas for preservation of species. To say we have to preserve every area with fairy shrimp, that's nonsense," Brengel said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service disagrees that the vernal pools on the Salk site are man-made and said in a letter to the district that they have to be protected, regardless of how they came about.

Before the district begins construction, it must develop a habitat-conservation plan to compensate for the loss of the fairy shrimp and win approval from Fish and Wildlife. The process is taking longer than expected.

The district offered to limit construction to 9 acres, using the remaining 4 acres as a fairy shrimp preserve.

Fish and Wildlife officials rejected that proposal because they didn't believe the 4 acres had the right soil conditions for the species to thrive. Furthermore, they felt the better vernal pools were outside the preserve area, where buildings were planned.

The district is now redesigning the school so more of the vernal pools are spared. In addition, it's looking at buying and preserving land elsewhere that contains fairy shrimp habitat to offset the loss at the Salk site.

One possibility the district is exploring is working with the city at McAuliffe park.

Preservation costs could run into the millions of dollars because the district will have to maintain the vernal pools to ensure the survival of the fairy shrimp.

Opening Salk in September 2007 is contingent on the district getting approval for its fairy shrimp preservation plan by next April or May.

Bob Kiesling, the district's facilities chief, said the project was estimated to cost $16.5 million, but the mitigation measures required could add as much as $4 million.

Jane Hendron, spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the fairy shrimp is an important part of the ecological system, providing "a food source for birds and other animals that also live in vernal pool systems."

Today, according to environmental experts, up to 97 percent of the vernal pools in the county have been bulldozed for development. Of 2,516 vernal pools identified in a city survey in 2002-2003, 643 contain the San Diego fairy shrimp.

"If we hadn't so impacted better-quality vernal pools, we probably wouldn't be quibbling at all over this area," said Cindy Burrascano, San Diego conservation chairwoman of the California Native Plant Society.

Despite the additional cost, Kiesling said, the project still makes financial sense. The site was given to the district by Pardee Homes. For other school projects, the district had to pay as much as $5 million per acre because it had to buy homes, raze them and provide relocation assistance.

Helen Gao: (619) 718-5181; helen.gao@uniontrib.com