Recreation in Peril at Riverside County Lake

Time may be running out for having fun at Lake Skinner.

Fishing, hunting and swimming at the lake near Temecula could be banned starting Aug. 15 if Riverside County follows through with its plan to close recreational facilities at the lake because of a dispute with the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

Although the county staffs and maintains the park at the lake, the property is owned by the water district. Because of new restrictions on who can use the lake and the lack of a long-term contract to operate the recreation facilities at Lake Skinner, the Board of Supervisors voted June 1 to end the arrangement.

Hoping to avoid a closure, officials from the water district and the county resumed talks Friday, and negotiations are continuing. The water district wants to craft a new agreement with the county because it is ill-equipped to assume overseeing recreation facilities.

“Our mission is not recreation,” said Adan Ortega, the water district’s vice president for external affairs. “It’s water collection.”

The water district, a consortium of 26 cities and smaller water districts, provides drinking water to 18 million people in the region. Lake Skinner is one of many reservoirs in that system. The 6,000-acre lake and park are in need of at least $1.7 million in repairs -- including those on sewage pipes and other infrastructure -- just to stay at the same level of service, according to Paul Frandsen, the general manager of the county’s park district.

At Lake Skinner, the county oversees more than 300 campsites, the lake, the marina with its boating rentals, and a swimming pool. More than 86,000 people used the facilities the first half of 2004.

The county estimates that as much as $9 million in improvements are needed to make the park at Lake Skinner more competitive with the newly opened Diamond Valley Lake in Riverside County, which features a more modern pool, a visitors center and other facilities.

Although the county park district is prepared to lose as much as $300,000 a year at Lake Skinner, recent developments have made the deal less attractive. “We were willing to stay as long as it didn’t hurt us anymore than it already does,” Frandsen said.

The county said the park’s success since October has become less stable. That month marked the opening of recreational use at Diamond Valley Lake and the beginning of tighter boat regulations.

Because Lake Skinner is used for drinking water, the water district instituted regulations that bar two-stroke engines and require expensive, more efficient models -- effectively cutting off many users. Although finances have somewhat stabilized, the park saw its revenue drop by nearly a half from September to October.

Diamond Valley Lake, which also is owned by the water district, falls under the same restrictions. Its facilities are managed by a private company.

To compound these concerns, the water district would not offer the county a long-term contract to oversee the park after their 30-year agreement expired in 2002. The water district offered one- and two-year deals.

Frandsen said the cash-strapped county no longer saw it as economically viable. “There are too many variables to have business as usual,” he said. “We have to be efficient.”

With that in mind, the water district is laying out strategies to help the county. No plans to use a private company are in place, Ortega said, and the water district’s board of directors has instructed its staff to pursue all alternatives with the county first.

A resolution would be good news to David Ellsworth of Temecula, who said he was “heartbroken” when he heard of the conflict.

He said he has been going to the lake six or seven times annually for about four years. Although one appeal is that it’s close to home, he said he also likes the more casual atmosphere. “It’s great for people like me who just like to fish,” Ellsworth said.

The lake also provides camping, which Robert and Aleta Conlee of Riverside said they would sorely miss. “They’re really going to hurt a lot of families,” Robert Conlee said.

Although the couple have brought their RV to the lake before, they too said the real draw is the fishing. But looking at the nearly empty parking lot on a recent Wednesday morning, they recalled times, before October, when it was more crowded.

Aside from what they called superior fishing because swimming is banned in the protected lake, the Conlees said they appreciate the environment. “Here, it is so pristine,” Aleta Conlee said. “It’s just beautiful.”