The $32.5 million project will turn the western portion of Marina Vista Park into a tidal channel connecting Colorado Lagoon to Marine Stadium, a move that could improve water quality and restore marine habitats.
The tidal channel is the last feature of a 25-year push to increase circulation and improve water quality in the Colorado Lagoon in Southeast Long Beach.
The project would connect Colorado Lagoon to Marine Stadium by creating a channel between the two bodies of water. In return for funding it, the Port of Long Beach will receive mitigation credits.
In order to provide better circulation to the lagoon, the city and advocates want to remove the westernmost portion of Marina Vista Park to create a tidal channel.
Long Beach community members and dignitaries celebrated the completion of the latest phase of the Colorado Lagoon Restoration Project Saturday morning.
After its initial announcement last May, Colorado Lagoon improvements will officially kick off next week, adding to the many ecological resources meant to enhance the lives of marine animals and birds.
The Long Beach City Council approved the next phase of the Colorado Lagoon’s restoration at its Tuesday meeting, looking to “further enhance the ecological value of the Lagoon through the creation of additional aquatic resources,” just after the lagoon received an A grade from Health the Bay.
Shortly after the Long Beach Airport was recognized by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), the Colorado Lagoon was also awarded, marking Long Beach’s second acknowledgement this year from the esteemed society.
The latest report card issued to Long Beach from Heal the Bay gave our beaches an overwhelming positive amount of grades, with 10 of 13 beaches receiving A or B grades when in dry weather.
After nearly a decade of environmental cleanup efforts and more than six months of closed construction and dredging, the green fences came down around the Colorado Lagoon this week to reveal a healthy, clean saltwater marsh much different from the cesspool of bacteria it had over the years become.
