The national oceanic and atmospheric administration is providing $5,999,290 in federal funding to the california state coastal conservancy through the FY2024 and FY2025 coastal zone management habitat…

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded $5,999,290 to the California State Coastal Conservancy through the Office for Coastal Management (CFDA 11.473) program under the FY2024 and FY2025 Coastal Zone Management Habitat Protection and Restoration Grant Competition. The award, effective October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2029, funds the Ormond Beach Coastal Restoration Project—Phase 1, a transformative habitat restoration initiative on 260 acres of public lands in Southern California. Key deliverables include completion of final habitat restoration designs and engineering, implementation of coastal dune and wetland habitat restoration with hydrologic reconnection to support a dynamic, self-sustaining ecosystem, and one year of post-project monitoring.

The project addresses legacy industrial pollution impacts while enhancing environmental quality and public access to restored coastal habitats. By removing fill, reconnecting hydrological systems, and recontouring the landscape, the initiative will restore historical wetland habitat diversity across a critical regional restoration site. The project leverages adjacent habitat management actions at Naval Base Ventura County Point Mugu to enhance durability across a contiguous 5,000-acre coastal wetland complex, thereby increasing safety and productivity for coastal communities in proximity to Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara Counties.

The national oceanic and atmospheric administration is providing $5,999,290 in federal funding to the california state coastal conservancy through the FY2024 and FY2025 coastal zone management habitat protection and restoration grant competition. This funding will increase the safety and productivity of coastal communities within coastal counties through habitat restoration planning, engineering and design projects, habitat restoration implementation projects, and land conservation projects. Specifically, the california state coastal conservancy will use these funds for the ormond beach coastal restoration project -phase 1 to implement transformative restoration of high-priority coastal habitats on 260 acres of public lands in southern california, improve durability of highly sensitive habitats, improve an area impacted by industrial pollution, and enhance access to a clean and restored environment. Ormond beachs proximity to the large population centers in LOS angeles, ventura, and santa barbara counties and large complex of dune/wetland/upland habitat in southern california make IT an important regional restoration opportunity. This project provides the opportunity to restore a similar diversity of wetland habitats that existed historically by removing fill, reconnecting the site hydrologically, and recontouring the area to restore habitats now and into the future. The project will leverage current habitat management actions implemented at the adjacent naval base ventura county point mugu, which will add habitat durability to a large, contiguous coastal wetland complex of over 5,000 acres. The funds specific to this project will complete final habitat restoration designs and engineering, restore 260 acres of coastal dune and wetland habitats and hydrologic connections that support a dynamic and self-sustaining ecosystem at ormond beach, and conduct one year of post-project monitoring.