Oxnard Plain Watershed

Existing conditions:

The Oxnard Plain is the lower drainage area of the greater Santa Clara-Calleguas Hydrological Unit. The Oxnard Plain is predominantly agricultural and residential lands. Large reserves of ground water exist in alluvial aquifers underlying the Oxnard Plain. Residential development is threatened the major wetland complex of the area at Ormond Beach.

Calleguas Creek drains the Oxnard Plain, which empties into Mugu lagoon. Nutrients and other dissolved constituents in irrigation return-flows are seeping into shallow aquifers and degrading ground water in this basin.

Description of Watershed Resources:

See watershed statistics under Calleguas Creek and the Santa Clara River Basin.

Status of Watershed Planning Efforts:

There is no watershed planning effort directed to deal with the Oxnard Plain.

Restoration Goals and Objectives Related to Wetlands:

Acquire 610-acres of wetlands and dunes parcels at Ormond Beach owned by Southern California Edison.

List of Major Restoration Activities:

Ormond Beach Edison Acquisition

The Ormond Beach Edison site is approximately 600 acres on the coast south of the City of Oxnard located between Edison Drive and Arnold Road.

Approximately 300 acres of the site are in agricultural use, 140 acres are in wetlands and dunes, and a tank farm covers 55 acres. Acquisition would allow for enhancing the existing degraded wetlands and potentially tripling the extent of wetlands and associated habitat on site. Anticipated restoration would include modifications of the site hydrology to reintroduce tidal action and bring back freshwater flows that had formerly drained across the Oxnard Plain to the coastal wetlands.