The San Dieguito River Park
18372 Sycamore Creek Rd.
Escondido, CA 92025
Phone: (858) 674-2270
Fax: (858) 674-2280
Email: sdrp@sdrp.org
The River Park has converted from a print-based distribution system to a web-based system. If you are interested in receiving e-mail notices when the quarterly activity schedule is posted to the website, and news of special events occurring in the Park, click above to send us an e-mail.
What's New at SDRP
March 2010
West Bernardo Bike Path
Construction Delayed
This is the bike path that will connect the south end of the David Kreitzer Lake Hodges Bicycle/Pedestrian Bridge to the Bernardo Bay Natural Area and Rancho Bernardo Community Park. The contractor is Tri-Group Construction. Pedestrian/bicycle access will be maintained 24 hours a day during the construction period. Construction on the cantilever portion adjacent to the lake has been delayed due to permit delays and bird nesting season restrictions. Construction on that portion will begin September 15, 2010. Work on some of the rest of the bike path will continue until May 1st.
Fairgrounds Master Plan Draft EIR Comments
Please click here to review the comments that the JPA sent in response to the Draft EIR, as well as those of various other organizations who sent us copies of their comments. On the same page, the Lewis Alternative Plan is also available in either PDF or Powerpoint.
RIDE A HORSE-DRAWN WAGON ALONG THE MULE HILL HISTORICAL TRAIL
The San Dieguito River Park, in association with the Friends of Sikes Adobe, the Rancho Bernardo Historical Society and Happy Trails Horse Rental, will offer wagon tours of the Mule Hill Historical Trail one Saturday a month from March through June. The first tour will take place on Saturday, March 13, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Historic attractions on the trail include the Sikes Adobe, the former Town of Bernardo, the Mule Hill battle site and the San Diego-to-Yuma stagecoach road.
Subsequent tours will run on April 17 and May 15 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and on June 26 from 10-3.
Tour tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children. No reservations. Pay at the site. Profits benefit the Friends of Sikes Adobe, and will be used to pay for furnishings and gardens at the Sikes Adobe Historic Farmhouse, which is nearing completion of its reconstruction following the 2007 Witch Fire. For further information call Anne Cooper at 858-674-2275, ext. 19 or Tom Cook at 858-487-5088.
NEW ACTIVITY CALENDAR
Our Activities are now shown in an easy-to-read format on Google Calendar that you can forward to your own calendar if you wish. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE NEW ACTIVITY CALENDAR! Bookmark this activity calendar or make it your home page! Thanks to volunteer Jim Coffee for setting this up this new and improved system for the San Dieguito River Park.
Dr. Phil Pryde leads Christmas Bird Count
Birds are flocking to the newly restored San Dieguito Lagoon. Above is the team, led by Dr. Phil Pryde (second from right), that conducted the 2nd Christmas Bird Count in the area east of I-5 and north of the river. Dr. Pryde reported that a year ago the restored estuary was only open a month when 62 species and 1195 birds were observed. This year 1912 birds were counted in the lagoon which is a successful report on the restoration.
Iron Ranger Installed
With the help of a donation from one of the River Park's volunteers (who prefers to remain anonymous), we have installed what is called an "iron ranger" (see below, with San Dieguito River Park Ranger Dave Hekel) at the start of the North Shore Lake Hodges Trail. Now trail users will be able to make a donation on the spot to help our rangers take care of the trails and build new ones.
Senator Kehoe Proposes
"Del Mar Greenway"
In a press conference held Wednesday December 2nd, Senator Chris Kehoe said that she will be initiating legislation in January that will require state agencies to confer and determine an appropriate width for a non-developed public greenway along the southern edge of the Fairgrounds property, north of the San Dieguito River. The press conference was attended by Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, Solana Beach Councilmembers Leesa Heebner and Dave Roberts; Del Mar Mayor Crystal Crawford and Del Mar Councilmembers Don Mozier, Richard Earnest, and Carl Hilliard. Members of the public included Dawn Rawls, Chair of the San Dieguito Lagoon Committee, Kathy Keehan, Executive Director of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, Bill Proffer, Chair of the San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy and many more. Honored guest Fran Gibson, Chair of the California Coastwalk, drove down from Berkeley for the event to show her solidarity.
Pictured above: Ranger Natalie Borchardt, Senator Chris Kehoe, Deputy Director Susan Carter and Principal Environmental Planner Shawna Anderson
Special thanks to Del Mar Rotary for planting cottonwood trees at the lagoon, October 17th. Click on photo below to see more pictures from that day.
Scout Will Foresman,
Troop 782 Carmel Valley
This fantastic double-sided kiosk was installed at the Lagoon Trail entrance at the foot of San Andres Drive. More pictures below. Click on pictures to enlarge.
URGENT PLEA FOR YOUR HELP
Please act NOW to save the San Dieguito River Park. Only the Mayor has the power to continue the essential support of the City of San Diego to keep the River Park alive. Help us convince him that citizens support the River Park.
Please express your concerns in writing to:
Mayor Jerry Sanders
City of San Diego
202 C Street
San Diego, CA 92101
Twenty years of progress creating the regional San Dieguito River Park may be lost if the City of San Diego unilaterally withdraws from the group of five cities and the County that originally established and jointly funded the San Dieguito River Park.
On December 9, 2009 the San Diego City Council passed a mid-year budget that eliminated funding for the San Dieguito River Park (SDRP) amounting to 36% of the river Park's annual budget.
Combined with a 14% budget cut from the previous year the SDRP will lose more than one third of its staff and most of its capacity to continue the progress of the last twenty years.
When the City Council made their budget decision they directed City staff to investigate if the SDRP budget could legally be transferred to the City Water Department, a separate budget, on the basis that the River Park accomplished watershed protection activities necessary for the protection of water quality and quantity of City water resources.
It has been confirmed that preservation and enhancement of land and natural resources within the Lake Hodges and San Pasqual watershed are important to the Water Department's efforts to ensure a viable water supply now and far into the future. The contributions of the SDRP fit squarely within the identified goals of the Water Department. The SDRP has raised over $18 million to purchase 2,256 acres of land within Lake Sutherland, Lake Hodges and San Pasqual watershed and is maintaining the properties as protected open space. Additionally, the SDRP has obtained over $1 million for invasive species control within San Pasqual Valley and patrols daily to prevent erosion caused by off-road vehicles.
It has been over two months since the San Diego City Council Budget action with no answer to the Council's question on the legality of transferring the SDRP budget to the City Water Department.
Please write Mayor Sanders NOW (cc dbobertz@sdrp.org) and ask him to answer the Council's question and to support transferring the River Park budget to the San Diego Water Department.
FURLOUGHS IN EFFECT AT THE SAN DIEGUITO RIVER PARK
In response to the budget crisis that hit the San Dieguito River Park as a result of loss of the City of San Diego's financial contribution ($254,000 annually), the San Dieguito River Park Board of Directors on January 15th instituted furloughs for all staff effective February 1st. The furloughs will be for 1 day a month, until the end of this fiscal year, which is June 30th. The Board and staff are investigating a variety of alternative funding options, including one-time and ongoing sources. If no alternative equivalent funding source is found by then, layoffs will be required by July 1st.
County Television Network Video
Sikes Adobe Re-Restoration
Click here to read an update on the reconstruction progress.
On Tuesday, December 1 st, Ranger Dave Hekel spent the day out riding the North Shore Trail to do a show segment for a French Canadian television program. The show is on the Canadian TV channel vasion and is called L’Amerique a Velo and features different riding trails across America. They all spent a wonderful day out riding. This group picture is from the ride on December 1st. From left to right are Canadian bike enthusiasts Don and David, Yvan (The show’s host), Celine, Jerome and our own Ranger Dave Hekel.
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Children Love Creepy Critters!
Click here for more pictures from the Saturday October 17th "Wealth of Wildlife" program that featured "Creepy Critters". Even though you missed that program, you can attend the December "Wealth of Wildlife" program on "Exotic and Invasive Critters ". It's December 12th at 2:30 p.m. Click here for more info.
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Belted Kingfisher at the lagoon with his Catch of the Day! Photograph below by Jeanie Anderson
Board approves Scheme B for San Dieguito Lagoon Center At their October 16th meeting, the San Dieguito River Park Board of Directors approved RNT Architects' alternative design, Scheme B. Scheme B is much smaller than the original (one story instead of two, 6000 sqft instead of 7475 sqft) with less hardscape. It uses more multi-purpose rooms instead of special purpose rooms, and organizes the spaces to reduce staff requirements.
The Board also directed the architects to prepare a detailed cost estimate for Scheme B, and directed staff to prepare a Business Plan that addresses ongoing operations and maintenance costs, and to pursue grants for funding the San Dieguito Lagoon Center.
The planning area for the San Dieguito River Park is located in central San Diego County, at the northern edge of the City of San Diego. The western end begins at the ocean at Del Mar. The planning area follows the course of the San Dieguito River to its source at Ironside Spring on Volcan Mountain just north of Julian.
No. The San Dieguito River Park is a Joint Powers Authority. The term "Joint Powers Authority" (JPA) means that some public agencies have agreed to jointly share certain powers, such as the power to manage and acquire land.
The Focused Planning Area (FPA) is the area of focus for the San Dieguito River Park's acquisition and planning efforts. It is the area of jurisdiction for the San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority. The FPA roughly corresponds to the viewshed of the San Dieguito River Valley and its tributary streams - that is, what you could see if you were standing on the valley floor.
The creation of the San Dieguito River Park is a long-term project. It is one that not only you, but your children and perhaps grandchildren will be able to participate in. Individual segments are acquired, planned and implemented as funds become available. Enormous progress has been made in the 20 year life of the Park since its creation in 1989. Future milestones will be the completion of the 55-mile Coast to Crest Trail and building three Visitor Centers (lagoon, central and backcountry). .
Please visit our FAQ page for more information on SDRP.
The San Dieguito River Valley Regional Open Space Park Joint Powers Authority, also known as the San Dieguito River Park, is the agency responsible for creating a greenway and natural open space park in the San Dieguito River Valley. The vision of the River Park is to preserve and interpret the natural and cultural resources of the river valley from the river's source on Volcan Mountain, north of Julian, to the Pacific Ocean in Del Mar.
If you have photos, graphs, geological data, wildlife data, or other useful information that is relevant to SDRP's mission, please don't hestitate to contact us at: sdrp@sdrp.org
We welcome feedback on this site. If there is additional information you think should be added, or other improvements which could be made, please contact us: sdrp@sdrp.org
