Cities Join Forces to Work to Save San Elijo Lagoon

The San Elijo Lagoon made strange bedfellows of three North County communities Monday as politicians from Solana Beach, Encinitas and Escondido gathered on the shore of the endangered wetlands, pledging to work together to help preserve it.

Mayors of the three cities said they are investigating the creation of a joint powers authority to manage the estuary and will eventually consider establishing a greenbelt river park along Escondido Creek, to be modeled after San Dieguito River Valley Regional Park.

Officials also announced the appointment of a first-ever executive director for the nonprofit San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy to spearhead what they called a new regional effort to save the lagoon from destruction from its worst enemy: overdevelopment on its shores.

The lagoon, one of Southern California’s largest remaining coastal wetlands, supports a variety of wildlife and endangered species--including birds such as the California gnatcatcher and the light-footed clapper rail--in its normally shallow, brackish water.

“Globally, these lagoons are precious habitats that hundreds of species of animals rely upon for their survival,” said Gregory Dennis, new director of the conservancy.

“Locally, it forms our open space here. It’s our largest park. It’s one of the last pieces of our frontier. And it’s in trouble,” Dennis said.

San Elijo Lagoon--along with Batiquitos Lagoon in Carlsbad--is among 17,000 waterways that are listed as polluted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and that face further damage because of existing and proposed development along their shorelines.

The mouth of San Elijo, blocked on one side by Interstate 5 and on the other by a 100-year-old railroad bridge, is choked off by sand and sediment deposits, preventing the estuary from a natural process of flushing itself out.

The mayors--Richard Hendlin of Solana Beach, Gail Hano of Encinitas and Jerry Harmon of Escondido--who in the past have battled over issues such as an Escondido sewage pipeline that runs alongside and has caused problems for the ailing lagoon, said Monday that they will put past disagreements aside.

“We want you people on the coast to know that we realize what we do upstream affects your quality of life here on the coast,” Harmon told the gathering of city and county officials, including council members from Solana Beach and Encinitas.

“As upstream dwellers, we know that, as goes the coast, so goes inland,” he said.

The San Elijo sewage outfall, which runs from Escondido, extends for a mile and a half into the ocean, dumping 19 million gallons of treated sewage daily into water 160 feet deep.

Harmon also alluded to a plan to one day treat his city’s waste water instead of dumping it into the ocean. “We know that the pipeline issue has in the past caused concern,” he said.

“One thing we will do is treat the water to tertiary standards so we can recycle every bit of it for use upstream,” he said.

Officials said that, as well as looking into the long-term possibility of establishing a 15-mile-long river park, they will consider a future management plan that might include a dredging project as well as much-needed biological studies at the 1,000-acre lagoon reserve, which is co-owned by the state and county.

“This is a historical day,” Dennis said. “This is the first time these mayors have stood up in public and pledged to work together to save this resource. It’s certainly a good day for the lagoon.”

Officials said the establishment of North County’s second regional park would be proof that cities can put aside their differences for a goal that would benefit everyone.

“We want to preserve as many acres of this sensitive resource as possible--for ourselves and future generations,” Harmon said. “It’s an idea whose time has finally come.

“I just wish it happened 20 years ago.”