AREA SHOULD BE PRESERVED AS UNDEVELOPED REFUGE.

Byline: Arthur Langton 

THE San Fernando Valley Audubon Society, with the permission and acquiescence of the Department of Water and Power, has conducted field trips, bird counts and surveys within the grounds of Chatsworth Reservoir for more than 40 years.

Other groups conducting activities within the reservoir in both the past and the present include the Los Angeles Audubon Society, the Canada Goose Project, the Southwest Bird Study Club, the Southwest Herpetological Society and the Oak Tree Coalition, as well as homeowners groups and classes from several west Valley elementary and middle schools.

While many similarities exist between the Sepulveda Wildlife Area and the Chatsworth Reserve, important and significant differences must also be recognized.

Much money and a lot of effort have gone into building the Sepulveda Wildlife Area to make it compatible for both birds and the casual observer and user. No such enhancements have taken place or are planned for Chatsworth, and it remains much as it was when the reservoir last had water in it in 1969.

Potential hazards to people exist in the form of unfenced flood control channels, tunnels with unforeseen drop-offs, slippery, gravel-covered slopes surrounding the old reservoir basin, decayed and diseased tree limbs and stacks of surplus water main and other miscellaneous debris.

All of these can be circumvented or mitigated with care, foresight, avoidance and realization of the potential for injury.

Another difference is the limited lack of sanitary facilities. This need must be addressed, either through the construction of permanent structures or the inclusion of portable toilets, before large numbers of people can be admitted for any reason on a regular basis.

A unique feature of the Chatsworth Reservoir is the presence of Species of Special Concern, as designated by the California Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

This listing includes the tricolored blackbird, which utilizes the cattails around the reservoir's permanent pond as nesting sites. Unfortunately, this species is documented as being sensitive to nesting site disturbances and will abandon nesting sites at even the minor provocation.

Consideration should also be given to foraging Canada geese during the winter months. These are truly wild birds, unlike their park-dwelling cousins, and will easily take flight if approached too closely. The rare, for the Valley, prairie falcon inhabits a particular portion of the reservoir rim from late September through January.

Recognition of potential conflicts or problems and the importance of leaving these birds undisturbed through judicious rerouting of visiting groups should avoid problems.

Any management plan for the Chatsworth Reservoir must both protect the natural biological and historical resources from visitors while also protecting those same visitors from harm or injury.

Just where the fulcrum should be placed in this most important and crucial balancing act can only be decided after long, thoughtful and informed consideration and discussion by the groups and individuals concerned with the reservoir's future.

Audubon has promoted, wherever and whenever feasible, the wise and thoughtful use of open space for public enjoyment, inspiration and education.

Audubon would undoubtedly be receptive to being the catalyst for accessing and touring through the reservoir on a scheduled or reservation basis. Models and precedents for similar programs already exist at other public facilities.

Environmental education should unquestionably play a major part of the reservoir's future. Students should have the opportunity to learn about local native biodiversity, ecology and archeology through both guided activity-based tours or individual research projects.

Planning, implementing and providing such programs is an opportunity with limitless possibilities for the Department of Water and Power, local schools, teacher training classes or local environmental and historical organizations.

Few topics in the curriculum have more power to excite and motivate an interest in science in lower- to middle-grade level students than contact with living things.

Few are the students who do not identify with or show an interest in wild creatures.

In an increasingly congested urban setting, the Chatsworth Reservoir should be maintained in its undeveloped state as a refuge not only for wildlife but also for those who gain inspiration, enjoyment and enlightenment from wild things and places.

At the same time, the reservoir can provide us with a starting point from which to measure the Valley's past and its metamorphosis into a major metropolitan center. The quality, availability and amount of open space must be included in the grand equation which defines the cultural diversity of a community.