Initiated by EHL legal action in 2001, the program will use accumulated mitigation fees to restore wetlands and protect burrowing owls.

An Agricultural Preserve of 17,000 acres once supported massive cow pastures and dairies in the Prado Basin, roughly east of the City of Chino and south of the City of Ontario. The industry was largely comprised of Dutch, French Basque, and Portuguese dairy farmers. Water quality issues, increasing operating costs, and development pressure were among the factors that, in the late 1990s, led to dissolution of the agricultural contracts under the state Williamson Act and annexations into Chino and Ontario. The County of Riverside approved development that later became the City of Eastvale. 

In years past, EHL engaged with both Chino and Ontario on their portions of the former Preserve. Chino chose to retain significant land as agriculture and open space. EHL worked with a developer there to purchase land as mitigation to help connect the Prado Basin to Chino Hills State Park via the intervening Chino Hills. 

In the case of Ontario, EHL and the Sierra Club, concerned over loss of burrowing owl habitat and wetlands, sued the City over its annexation, but reached an amicable settlement agreement. This agreement collects a per acre fee for habitat purposes, and calls for a land trust to oversee expenditures. Over the last 20 years, over $10 million has accumulated in the mitigation fund. The funds are required to be spent in the Prado Basin and surrounding area, where there is still much natural and semi-natural land.

In 2022, with the leadership of its Planning Department, the City of Ontario launched an effort to spend the accumulated funds. The Inland Empire Resource Conservation District (IERCD) was chosen as the land trust and an MOU signed. IERCD is a respected and collaborative agency that is a branch of the state Department of Conservation. It is particularly skilled in habitat restoration. The District will build upon past strategic planning done by the Rivers and Lands Conservancy in choosing properties to acquire and restore. With the program now in place, EHL will coordinate with the District and the City on project identification.

We look forward to reporting to you on future exciting uses of the fund.