City May Pull the Plug : Residents Battle to Save Rare Lake in Carlsbad

It is small, oddly shaped, ringed with algae and rumored to host a determined colony of mosquitoes. Its waters, which detractors claim are polluted, are off limits to fishermen, boaters and bathers. Because the only road leading to its shores is a bumpy dirt track, off-road vehicle enthusiasts are its most frequent visitors.

By almost any measure, there’s little to love about Carlsbad’s Lake Calavera.

Nevertheless, it is a lake--a rare, green oasis amid the arid, brush-covered hills and sprawling subdivisions typical of North County. And Mary Friedman is rather fond of it.

“It’s a small, scenic piece of open space in an area that’s literally being overrun with development,” said Friedman, whose home overlooks the lake from neighboring Oceanside. “There aren’t many natural spots like it left around here.”

Despite such sentiments, there is a plan afoot to pull the plug on Lake Calavera.

Concerned about their liability in the event of a drowning or other accident, city officials and directors of the Costa Real Municipal Water District are debating a plan to drain Calavera and possibly put the 35-acre lake and surrounding lands up for sale to developers.

That proposal--which raises the prospect of replacing this North County nook of nature with houses and condominiums--has sparked the formation of a citizens group determined to keep water in the lake and transform the property into a regional park.

“Every day Carlsbad and the rest of North County loses ground to developers, and before long, every inch of land will be used up,” said Friedman, who organized citizens into the Friends of Lake Calavera Open Land Reserve. “So to me, it makes sense to preserve at least this one small piece of nature for residents to enjoy. With the lake already there, it’s perfect for a park.”

Friedman and her compatriots, however, may have trouble reaching their goal. Although the lake is in northeastern Carlsbad, the nearest homes to it are on a bluff within the Oceanside city limits. In fact, the property is virtually inaccessible from Carlsbad, and officials in that city have made it quite clear they want nothing to do with building a park for people living in Oceanside.

“Carlsbad’s position is we’re not in the business of building and paying for parks for another city,” City Manager Frank Aleshire said. “If Oceanside wanted to get in on some sort of joint venture, well, maybe we’d consider it. But personally I don’t think there’s a lot of potential there. I think it would be a very nice focal point for a little subdivision.”

Meanwhile, city officials in Oceanside seem oblivious to the lake. “Lake what?” Councilman Sam Williamson asked.

Under a 1983 agreement, the lake and about 200 surrounding acres are owned by the city but managed by the Costa Real Municipal Water District. Until the late 1950s, when imported water became available to the area through the Metropolitan Water District, Calavera was a source of drinking water for Carlsbad, said William Meadows, general manager of the Costa Real district. But since then, the lake has “basically just sat there useless and has been an attractive nuisance,” luring off-road vehicle users to the area, Meadows said. Some detractors claim the brackish waters are polluted and breed mosquitoes; Meadows said Calavera’s water is not suitable to drink.

At one time, the county intended to purchase Calavera for development as a regional park. But then Proposition 13 came along and the project was scrapped.

Over the years, city officials have received numerous offers from developers for the lake and adjacent acreage, which together are estimated to be worth more than $10 million. One plan proposed converting the lake into an active boating facility and campground, while another envisioned a sort of mini-Mission Viejo, where the lake would become the central theme for a housing development. Carlsbad leaders have so far said no to developers interested in the site “because doing something with it just hasn’t been a priority,” Mayor Mary Casler said.

Yet Costa Real officials have grown tired of being responsible for the property, Meadows said. Over the past two years, there have been two fatalities at the lake--a drowning and an off-road vehicle accident--and Calavera has increasingly been viewed as “a poor risk that doesn’t provide much in return,” Meadows said.

“We’re not in the park business or the police business, and frankly we don’t have the resources to patrol the lake properly,” he said. “The feeling is that in order to reduce the element of danger out there, it might be wise to drain it.”

Draining Calavera, Meadows said, would mean opening a valve in the earthen dam, located on the western end of the lake, and permitting the water to seep slowly onto the vacant lands below. This would require an environmental impact study as well as assorted permits from the state Department of Fish and Game and other agencies, a process that could take as long as six months, Meadows said.

Friedman said members of her group fear that draining the lake would leave “a big mudhole out there” or else clear the way for the city to solicit development proposals for the property.

“We’re not naive, and we know that land around here doesn’t sit vacant for too long,” Friedman said. “We’re not going to let that happen without a little fight.”

Friedman added that ultimately, the group’s members would like to see Oceanside, Vista and Carlsbad team up to finance development of the lake as a “tri-city park.”

Recently, a handful of Carlsbad residents--including former City Councilman Girard (Lefty) Anear--joined Friedman’s save-the-lake campaign, adding some clout that’s bound to boost the group’s efforts.

“Natural bodies of water are few and far between around here, and I’m sure the developers have their eye on it,” Anear said. “If they don’t drain it, I can see them doing some sort of private development out there and excluding the public from using what is a tremendous natural resource.”

Anear, who has treasured Calavera “forever,” he said, is rounding up support for the lake in various environmental circles, tapping support groups for North County lagoons and also alerting members of the city’s Park and Recreation Commission.

The former councilman also plans to explore potential state funding sources that could assist local efforts to develop the lake site as a park.

“I think that once we get the right movement going, we can keep the lake a lake,” Anear said.

The Costa Real Municipal Water District’s board of directors will consider the proposal to drain Calavera sometime next month after Carlsbad officials offer their official comment on the plan.