REWILDING ESCONDIDO & REIDY CREEKS
While we are best known for our education programs and our work protecting land for wildlife, we believe improving the health of the water that flows through Escondido and Reidy Creeks in the City of Escondido - and eventually to the San Elijo Lagoon and into the ocean - is also paramount.
Escondido Creek Conservancy volunteers have been monitoring the quality of the water in Escondido Creek for many years, using this information to advocate for policy changes that would help improve water quality.
Controlling water pollution is everyone's responsibility, but a variety of government agencies, in the case of the Escondido Creek watershed, the cities of Escondido, Encinitas and Solana Beach, and the County of San Diego, as well as the Regional Water Quality Control Board, are responsible to make sure water pollutant standards are met by industry and governments and the water is clean for humans and wildlife.
The Conservancy has advocated for improved water quality in the watershed and partnered with other nonprofit organizations, such as San Diego Coastkeeper and I Love a Clean San Diego, on projects to reduce trash and other pollutants in our creeks.
Improving water quality in Escondido Creek is especially challenging because of the 6-mile long concrete flood control channel in the City of Escondido. In the 1950s and later, government agencies took a myopic view on handling flooding challenges and many communities constructed concrete channels to move flood waters through their communities as quickly as possible. Flood waters were tamed, but what the engineers of the day didn't realize is the immediate and long-term negative impacts of those channels on the health of the watersheds, both for humans and wildlife.
While concrete channels move flood water quickly, they also split neighborhoods with impassable concrete ditches, isolating residents and creating heat islands where trees were removed. Flood control channels become conduits for pollutants, as everything that runs off the streets ends up in the channel and makes its way to the ocean. Flood control channels also heat the water, limiting the species that can live in and near it.
We have encouraged the City of Escondido to rewild Escondido and Reidy Creeks such that they not only maintain their flood carrying capacity, but also provide ecological functions and can serve as park space for nearby residents.
In contrast to a concrete flood control channel, in a healthy creek in southern California, the creek bottom would be a mix of rocks, pebbles and sand of varying sizes. the sides of the creek would be shaded by overhanging trees including the California Sycamore, Coast Live Oaks and the Arroyo Willow. This natural bottom would have places for fish and insects to hide and lay eggs while the trees would cool the water, allowing them to reproduce as nature intended.
The Conservancy is focused on the health and vitality of the Escondido Creek watershed, which includes Reidy and Escondido creeks.
The 6-mile concrete flood control channel in the City of Escondido has flood control benefits but, sadly, it has significantly harmed the Escondido Creek watershed by serving as a conduit for trash and pollution, splitting neighborhoods, removing the natural flow of sand to the ocean and heating the water such that many species are struggling to survive. Perhaps the saddest outcome is that many Escondido residents near the channel lost access to nature, their once coherent neighborhoods are now bisected, and trees and gentle breezes have been replaced with concrete and heat.
The good news is that cities all over the world have begun to rewild their concrete flood control channels, turning them into amenities for people and wildlife. The most well-known project might be the Los Angeles River, which is similar to the Escondido Creek flood control channel but on a much greater scale. Leaders in Los Angeles are to be commended for having a vision to rewild the LA River and working together to bring it to fruition.
