DUDEK - Environmental Wetlands Restore Degraded Habitat

Regulatory Compliance

Brookfield Homes Restores Wetlands

Developer enhances habitat near north San Diego County’s Copper Creek
Brookfield Homes planned a 1,500-home community in San Marcos, California requiring associated roadways and utilities on nearly 416 acres. To mitigate the disturbance of existing yet degraded open space, the developer is creating enhanced wetlands as part of its sizable mitigation program.

”Developing wetlands that support diverse native plant and wildlife populations is an intricate process,” said David Poole, Brookfield Homes’ vice president. “We selected mitigation sites that would best sustain the native species and habitats, investing significantly to promote their long-term success.”

“Through the design and permitting process, we chose wetlands mitigation sites that best fulfilled the project’s long-term natural species conservation plan,” added John Minchin, a Dudek senior landscape architect and habitat restoration specialist who played a major role in designing the project.

The wetlands are located along nearby Copper Creek, which had been significantly degraded as a result of the use of adjacent lands for mulch production and its proximity to the old San Marcos landfill.

Plant/habitat surveys, wetlands delineations, and general wildlife surveys were conducted to assess the site’s wetland mitigation potential. The resulting design will significantly restore this new wetland’s ability to promote the formation of additional wetlands and provide improved habitat connections for endangered local species such as the California gnatcatcher.

The created and enhanced wetland habitats, consisting of southern willow scrub, freshwater marsh and transitional coastal sage scrub were designed to interface with and expand upon the site’s existing native habitats in order to help support a biologically-diverse ecosystem.

“The created wetlands are thriving,” concluded Minchin. “After three years of maintenance and monitoring, the sites are evolving nicely, supporting intended native vegetation and improved habitat for a variety of wildlife species.”

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