Current Human Impacts on Upper Newport Bay

Once a pristine ecosystem, human development has greatly harmed the Upper Newport Bay wetlands. Upper Newport Bay is a beautiful area, so it is no surprise that people want to live near it. Housing developments dominate many of the bluffs overlooking the bay, and the proximity plus the landscaping of these homes has proved problematic. California sagebrush used to grow abundantly on the bluffs surrounding the bay, but development of the area has drastically reduced the amount of sage that remains in the area. Furthermore, non-native species used in the landscaping of the homes have been introduced into the ecosystem of the bay, out-competing and displacing native species. Some of these invading non-native species include giant reed and ice plant. The loss of native species in Upper Newport Bay lessens the availability of food sources for animal species living there. Fertilizer and pesticides from the irrigation of the landscaping enter Upper Newport Bay as run-off. In addition to the Newport Beach area, all of Orange County has become extremely developed, including areas around the San Diego and Bonita creeks. Watershed from these areas enters Upper Newport Bay through the creeks, and brings toxic chemicals, silt, fertilizers, and trash into the bay. The watershed from residential and agricultural sources was deemed toxic to marine and freshwater zooplankton in the bay by studies conducted under the Evaluation Monitoring Demonstration Project in July 1996. The same study found that areas of Upper Newport Bay are experiencing dissolved oxygen depletion mostly likely resulting from excessive fertilization of the bay in the form of nitrogen and phosphorus which enter Upper Newport Bay in run-off water channeled to the bay from San Diego Creek. The excessive fertilization supports large algal blooms harmful for the fish that live in Upper Newport Bay, as the amount of oxygen in the water is reduced. Additionally, Upper Newport Bay and the surrounding bluffs contain biking and running paths for people and their pets. An important resource for people living near this area, providing such amenities has resulted in litter accumulation in the bay. People and dogs off of their leashes trample plants and disturb wildlife and bird nests in the area.

While humans have had immense negative impacts on the Upper Newport Bay wetlands, people have recently made great steps to protect and restore the area. There currently exists the Upper Newport Bay Project 
Community-Based Restoration and Education Program, which enlists citizens to help restore the Upper Newport Bay habitat while simultaneously teaching them about the importance of the area. The California Coastal Commission partnered with H.T. Harvey Ecological Consultants to create and initiate this project. In the last ten years, 96,000 pounds of non-native plants have been pulled by volunteers, and more than 6,000 native plants have been re-planted. Major dredging of the bay commissioned by the government has become necessary so that the bay floor doesn’t rise too much. From 1998-1999, enough sediment to fill one million pick-up trucks was removed from the bay, and this will have to be repeated so long as sediment continually washes into the bay from the creeks. Much of the Upper Newport Bay wetlands are protected since they became an ecological reserve in 1975. The area is also protected under the 1968 Estuary Protection Act, in which the federal government incurs some of the cost of maintaining and protecting estuaries in state possession. And finally, nesting islands were created in the late 1980’s during one of the dredging projects to aid and hopefully increase bird nesting in the bay.