Of the 17 coastal wetland areas within the San Diego region, the San Dieguito Lagoon once ranked among the biggest. The marsh area alone is believed to have covered more than 600 acres. But fish and marine creatures weren’t the only ones attracted to the seaside ecozone. Over time, people filled in more than half the marshland near the mouth of the San Dieguito River and built stuff on it: the Del Mar Racetrack and fairgrounds, houses and shopping centers, even an airfield (during the Second World War). Construction of Jimmy Durante Boulevard, Highway 101 (and later Interstate 5) further clogged the estuary, and upstream dams restricted the river’s volume. By the 1940s, the heavy hand of all this development had cut off the tidal flows.
Restoring at least some of the lost marshland has long been a dream of local naturalists, and two and a half years ago it began approaching reality when an $86 million restoration project funded by Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric got underway. (The utilities coughed up the money as penance for the fish eggs and larvae they routinely destroy by sucking seawater into their San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station for use as coolant.) Now the 150-acre project is nearing completion.
Everything hasn’t been put back the way it once was. West of I5 the river is still hemmed in by housing, the fairgrounds, and other development. And on the east side, the re-created marshland only occupies 75 acres. But there, river water is now flowing in twice daily, leaving behind pools filled with fish eggs and other sea life as the tide recedes.
The best way to experience what has taken shape is to drive to the south end of San Andres Drive, off Via de la Valle. Park on the street there and follow the river’s course westward along the newly bulldozed pathway. This section still feels far from pristine . The land has been scraped bare, and as the path nears Interstate 5, the roar of all that speeding metal overhead drowns out any natural melodies. Graffiti covering the walls of the freeway underpass creates a gritty, urban vibe, and a bit further west, the path skirts the end of a golf driving range. All the balls littering the trail made me wonder if I should have worn a helmet.
The hike improves as the path approaches Jimmy Durante Boulevard. Here San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy volunteers have constructed a 1400-foot-long elevated boardwalk and interpretive displays that explain the ecology of the watershed. West of Jimmy Durante, the City of Del Mar’s Riverpath proceeds along a bank covered with mature trees and thick vegetation. The other day, the wintry river was wide and its currents fast. At the end of the trail, the sight of that sweet fresh water surging into the salty surf felt like a reward.
Where the river meets the sea
Although the heavy earth-moving phase of the lagoon restoration is over, reestablishment of the salt-marsh plants and coastal sage scrub habitat on the surrounding slopes will continue as hundreds of thousands of natives plants go in the ground. The project’s developers expect to see the restored lagoon eventually become a nursery for ocean fish and a nesting grounds for both local birds and migrants traveling along the Pacific Flyway.
As for humans, the lagoon and Riverwalk trails will be the grand finale if and when the San Diego River Park Conservancy reaches its dream of tying together 55 miles of consecutive trails following the river’s path from Volcan Mountain north of Julian to the sea.
