SAN DIEGO (Press Release) – District Attorney and San Diego Mayoral candidate Bonnie Dumanis on Saturday pledged to restore city funding that has been cut to the San Dieguito River Valley Regional Open Space Park. Dumanis made the announcement during the dedication of the San Dieguito Lagoon Trail in the park Saturday morning.
“Part of preserving San Diego’s quality of life means ensuring adequate open space and park space for residents to enjoy,” she said. “As Mayor, I’m committed to seeing that the City of San Diego meets its funding obligations to the park and works closely with its partner cities to ensure the park reaches its full potential as a regional asset for citizens to enjoy for decades to come.”
In 1989, the County of San Diego and Cities of Del Mar, Escondido, Poway, Solana Beach, and San Diego entered into a Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement to create the San Dieguito River Valley Regional Open Space Park Joint Powers Authority. The agency is responsible for creating a natural open space park in the San Dieguito River Valley. The park will someday extend from the ocean at Del Mar to Volcan Mountain, just north of Julian.
The Joint Powers Authority is empowered to acquire, plan, design, improve, operate and maintain the San Dieguito River Park. In 2010, the City of San Diego discontinued funding for the San Dieguito River Valley Regional Open Space Park. Over the past two decades, the Joint Powers Authority has secured $160,000,000 in grants and gifts for the park.
“For more than 20 years, we’ve worked together to build a wonderful open space park that includes the purchase and preservation of nearly 3,000 acres of natural open space, a 150-acre coastal wetlands restoration project, and construction and ongoing management and maintenance of over 35 miles of public trails, the majority of which are in the City of San Diego,” said Dumanis. “As Mayor, I will work to restore funding to this project.” San Dieguito River Park goals include:
Preservation of Open Space – Establish a continuous open space corridor throughout the length of the focused planning area that preserves natural habitats, protects linkages for wildlife movement and provides compatible areas for recreational opportunities.
Conservation of Sensitive Resources – Preserve the existing natural character, visual quality, and sensitive resources of the open space corridor, including the preservation, enhancement, and protection of sensitive coastal wetlands, hillsides, riparian and other freshwater habitat, native vegetation and historical and cultural resources.
Protection of Water Resources – Optimize the water quality and quantity of all groundwater resources and surface water bodies within the planning area through water conservation, erosion control, pollution control and restoration.
Preservation of the Natural Floodplain – Maintain the 100 year floodplain and sheetflow areas within the planning area in an open configuration with a natural channel and provide adequate area for the normal stream waters to meander through the floodplain. The 100 year floodplain and sheetflow areas will be preserved for open space uses such as recreation, wildlife habitat or agriculture.
Retention of Agricultural Uses – Retain and encourage responsible agriculture in appropriate areas.
Creation of Recreational and Educational Opportunities – Create a scenic trail and interpretive system and establish recreational areas including water related uses, which are compatible with the natural values of the river system.
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Preceding provided by Bonnie Dumanis’s mayoral campaign committee