REIDY CREEK PROJECT
While the project is completed, the City must continue to maintain Reidy Creek so invasive weeds and trash and pollution do not return. The Conservancy hopes to find future funding to work with the City of Escondido to extend a trail along Reidy Creek so that local residents can safely enjoy its many wonders.
There is another important creek in the Escondido Creek watershed: a major drainage to Escondido Creek called Reidy Creek. It originates in the northern park of the city near Daley Ranch and flows down Reidy Canyon (where Broadway terminates), then parallels Centre City Pkwy before joining Escondido Creek near the Escondido Transit Center. Unlike Escondido Creek, which mostly flows through the city in a concrete channel, parts of Reidy Creek are natural which provides an opportunity to more immediately rewild it.
Enhancing and improving Reidy Creek provides an opportunity to showcase what other creeks in the watershed could become: ribbon parks bisecting the city with beautiful native trees and plants, clean water, and walking and biking trails for local residents.
Reidy Creek had been the topic of conversation within the last few years as private property owners along the creek had expressed concerns over homeless encampments, and the resultant trash and pollution. To help combat these concerns, in September of 2018, the Conservancy was awarded $380,873 by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to implement the Reidy Creek Restoration and Beautification Project. In partnership with the City of Escondido and private property owners along Reidy Creek, the grant provided funding to remove invasive exotic trees and plants from the creek, as well as clean up and prevent trash and pollution on a large scale.
“The City is happy to be a part of this important creek project,” said then-Escondido City Manager Jeffrey Epp. “It should improve public safety by removing non-native trees and plants, making it easier for Police officers and Public Works staff to patrol the area for unauthorized encampments and litter.”
This project resulted in restored riparian and floodplain habitat for threatened and endangered species, restored ecological condition and function, improved fish and wildlife habitat, enhanced flood protection, and community outreach.
“Reidy Creek is an important natural waterway in the Escondido Creek watershed,” said Richard Murphy, the then President of the Conservancy, “but it has suffered from infestations of non-native plants that have diminished the ecological values of the creek.”
Reidy Creek, a primary tributary of Escondido Creek, is an important riparian and floodplain habitat within the Escondido Creek watershed. The watershed supports conservation of special status species including the least Bell’s vireo, which is known to recolonize river banks after restoration. The project treatment area stretches 21.15 acres from where the creek intersects El Norte Parkway to Lincoln. Large-scale invasive species removal occurred along .81 miles of the creek by the Urban Corps, which provides work experience to underserved youth.
THE CITY OF ESCONDIDO
American Redstart Returns to Reidy Creek
2021-01-15 | Jamison Lauria | Wildlife
The sweet little American redstart made a repeat appearance in October at our restoration site on Reidy Creek. We saw this mesmerizing bird at the same location in 2019. We can’t confirm it was the same individual as the one we sighted previously as it was not fitted with an ID band. We know, however, that some of the western populations of the American redstart winter in California and some migrate as far as Mexico or Central America.
We spotted the bird during a day of removing non-native yellow flag iris with workers from the Urban Corps of San Diego County. The bright orange breeding plumage on its wings and tail feathers made the male specimen hard to miss. The new world warbler flitted about the branches of a Freemont cottonwood flashing its colors to flush insects from the brush.
The crew seemed to genuinely delight in the American redstart and other wildlife at Reidy Creek. We noted the propelling behavior of nonnative crawdads, marveled at the sounds and sights and calls of the deep blue western scrub jay or the flashing red mohawk of the small ruby-crowned kinglet. During a day of hard labor, it was a joy to spend moments appreciating the wildlife we are determined to protect.
Spotting the resilient American redstart at Reidy Creek, a small greenway surrounded by apartment buildings, is a sign that wildlife persists within the confines of our urban areas. It highlights the importance of preserving and protecting stopover sites for wildlife and migratory birds like the American redstart. These travelers need places to rest, snack, and restore their energy reserves for journeys that can span continents. Reidy Creek may be such a place for the American redstart, in addition to being home turf for a number of other wildlife species.
Our restoration work at Reidy Creek is in partnership with the City of Escondido.
In 2018, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife awarded a $381,000 grant to the Conservancy to implement the Reidy Creek Restoration and Beautification Project. The state grant responded, in part, to public complaints over homeless encampments, trash, and pollution in the greenbelt between West El Norte Parkway and Highway 78.
South of the highway, Reidy Creek flows below ground before connecting with the concrete channel that contains Escondido Creek.
Grant-funded activities include enhancing flood protection and restoring riparian and floodplain habitat for fish and wildlife, especially threatened and endangered species.
