UC Merced gets go-ahead, may pose environmental risk
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 8, 2002 9:00 p.m.
Courtesy of UC Merced The UC Merced campus is currently in
design. This blue print of the campus’ library is one of several
already planned buildings.
By Robert Salonga
DAILY BRUIN STAFF
[email protected]
The University of California greenlighted the design for the
first buildings of its newest campus, despite objections from both
state and independent environmental agencies.
Designs for UC Merced’s science and engineering classroom
and library buildings were unanimously passed by the Regents’
committee on grounds and buildings on Wednesday. The UC hopes to
break ground for the campus this summer, with completion projected
in time to admit the first 1,000-student class in fall 2004.
Supporters of UC Merced say it is a much-needed addition to a
university system facing Tidal Wave II, the influx of 60,000
additional students into the UC over the next decade.
“We all feel comfortable where this is now going,”
said Regent Jeffrey Seymour, a committee member.
But the comfort comes in the midst of conflicts with the
Environmental Protection Agency, which is asking the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers to deny UC Merced a federal permit for
building.
According to the EPA, the current plans of development in Merced
county will have “direct impacts to aquatic resources”
in the area.
For example, agency reports found that the buildings as
currently designed will discharge fill into vital wetlands in the
area, including scarce vernal pools.
Vernal pools are seasonally-flooded wetlands that do not drain.
They provide for a wide array of animal and plant life, some of
which cannot survive in any other habitat. California, along with
South Africa, is one of the only places on Earth where vernal pools
exist.
Additionally, the UC has done a “horrible job”
filing for state and federal permits for the building of the
campus, said Steve Burke, head of the nonprofit organization
Protect Our Water.
Burke said the UC should have first filed with the engineer
corps before establishing Merced as the final site. The federal
permit process would have forced substantial consideration of
alternate sites if they filed earlier, he said.
Fresno was among the sites initially considered before the UC
settled on Merced.
“They aren’t dealing with the process in a sensible
way at all,” Burke said.
But the location is appropriate and the promptness of
construction is essential to an area largely unserved by the UC,
said James Grant, a spokesman for UC Merced.
Grant emphasized that the San Joaquin Valley, with a population
of 3.5 million, yields 40,000 high school graduates a year and that
a UC there is past due.
“We feel we’ve got the best location right
now,” Grant said. “It’s an appropriate balance
between California’s natural heritage and shrinking
farmlands.”
The 2,000-acre of land to be occupied by the campus now consists
of grasslands, vernal pools and a golf course. The Virginia Smith
Trust currently owns the majority of the land which rests in the
northeast corner of Merced County.
The trust will also set aside 6,000 acres for preservation in
the form of a Campus Land Preserve. Some of the reserve is for
future development ““ the campus is not slated to be fully
complete for at least 25 years ““ and the EPA wants to redraw
some of the reserve away from vernal pool habitats in the current
area.
The EPA fully supports the addition of a university to the area,
but wants to make sure every precaution is taken before the UC
starts digging into the ground.
“We want to continue to work with them to find an approach
that will benefit both the campus and the environment,” said
EPA spokeswoman Lisa Fasano.
