The San Diego River Conservancy recently adopted a five-year plan expected to shape the growth of a park that will stretch from the river’s headwaters near Julian to its ocean outlet at Dog Beach.
The conservancy began drafting the Five Year Strategic and Infrastructure Plan in November 2005 and voted to adopt it on March 24, 2006. It lays out the goals for the park and estimates the fiscal need for its projects. The plan will serve as the justification and documentation necessary to request state and federal funds, bonds and private grants.
“The plan itself is about future projects and future dollars,” said Deborah Jayne, conservancy executive officer. “One of our primary roles is to facilitate the development of the park by bringing funding to the community.”
The conservancy is the state arm charged with facilitating the park’s progress under the San Diego River Conservancy Act. The 11-person board of appointed members includes Mayor Jerry Sanders, Councilwoman Donna Frye, private citizens and representatives from the Wildlife Conservation Board and the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Approximately $164.5 million is needed to stay on top of the plan, which accounts for progress through 2011. But according to Jayne, this is just the beginning.
“It will probably take decades,” she said. “We will be building the River Park and the trail kind of segment by segment.”
Indeed, many parts of the park were completed or started prior to the five-year plan’s adoption. Four important projects that preceded the document are currently underway or on hold pending funding.
The first is the conservancy’s acquisition of 104 acres near Julian. The undeveloped land was willed to the conservancy, which is in the process of assuming title to the property.
Three additional projects are waiting for Prop 40 River Parkway funds from the state. The city’s expansion of the Ocean Beach trail to Mission Valley will eventually form part of the 52-mile river park path once connected. A cleanup and restoration of the Mission Valley Preserve “city-owned land between the Mission Valley YMCA, 5505 Friars Road and Interstate 5 ” has been underway for a while. Finally, the conservancy hopes to purchase 100 acres near Eagle Peak Preserve near Julian.
“The money for those three has already been applied for,” Jayne said. “It will likely be awarded and relatively soon.”
The idea of a river park has been around a long time. The vision began to crystallize in 2001 with the formation of the San Diego River Park Foundation, the nonprofit organization that created the park’s 2002 conceptual plan. That document outlined three main goals: building a river park and trail, protecting cultural and historical resources, and providing public access to the river.
All have been incorporated into the body of the five-year plan, which serves as the road map for the park’s development. The most recent plan’s objectives are grouped into four key areas: land conservation, recreation and education, the preservation and restoration of natural and cultural resources, and water quality and natural flood conveyance.
“It’s a big vision and it’s going to require work, but I think we can accomplish it,” said Rob Hutsel, San Diego River Park Foundation executive director. “We were very pleased with the outcome.”
A large part of making the park a reality is obtaining land surrounding the river. According to Jayne, the conservancy’s overall goal is protecting 1,450 acres near the San Diego River, including 300 acres within the City of San Diego at an estimated cost of $27 million. The conservancy also hopes to gain properties in Santee, Lakeside and El Monte Valley.
The conservancy recognizes that undeveloped land is limited within the City of San Diego, especially in places like Mission Valley. Instead of trying to buy land there, the conservancy will seek to purchase rights to it, or conservation easements. In effect, the private land becomes public in parts and would allow for a continuous trail. This is a common tool used by environmental groups, and the conservancy plans to work with winning sellers only.
“We are not going to be bulldozing down buildings to make this park,” Jayne said. “We are going to work with the land owners and the existing development and plans for new development over time and do our best to preserve what is left.”
The effort of creating this park is truly a partnership, Jayne said. The cities of San Diego, Lakeside and Santee contribute manpower and money, as well as nonprofits coordinated by the San Diego River Park Foundation. In fact, the conservancy is the newest kid on the block. Despite being a state agency, it does not have regulatory powers.
Hutsel said he was pleased to see that all the recommendations from the San Diego River Park Foundation and its coalition of 60 non-governmental agencies were incorporated into the document, namely plans to restore the dam in Mission Trails and protect the remains of California’s first mission originally located near the base of Presidio Hill in Old Town.
Of its own initiative, the foundation is working to acquire 600 acres near Eagle Peak Preserve, including the tallest waterfall in San Diego County; develop a proposal for a San Diego River Museum; and establish a small native plant garden in Point Loma.
Hutsel described the San Diego River’s impact on the local eco-system as incredible and vital. The river serves as a wildlife corridor within the county that is home to at least 20 endangered species, more than any other county in the country.
Once completed, the river park will provide a permanent home for wildlife and recreational open space for generations to come.
“[The plan] plays a role not only in San Diego, but in the entire biodiversity of the world,” Hutsel said.
For more information, visit the foundation at www.sandiegoriver.org or the conservancy at www.sdrc.ca.gov.