Zooming along on Interstate 5 it’s easy to miss one of the last large pieces of open land along the I-5 corridor, the San Dieguito Lagoon.
“It is a dream to restore the habitat back to what it was decades ago: tidal wetlands that open to the tides and provide habitat and recreational opportunities," said Shawna Anderson, the executive director of the San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority. The group oversees the San Dieguito Lagoon land.
Phase one of the lagoon's restoration was completed years ago. Now comes the much larger piece, phase two, which began this week.
Eighty-four acres, equivalent to 64 football fields, is being put back into its natural state. SANDAG is partnering with CalTrans to get the $87 million project done. It’s an exchange of sorts. The agencies just completed an HOV lane project which impacted the wetlands.
“And now we’re going to make up for that by creating a tidal wetland habitat here," said Kim Smith, a regional planner with SANDAG.
One million three-hundred thousand cubic feet of material will eventually be moved from the northern part of the land to a hillside on the southern side where it will be replanted.
“We will revegetate that with coastal sage scrub, and then they’ll bring that down so they can then create the wetland habitat," Smith said. "We’re creating some transitional habitat that will help with sea level rise, we’re improving water quality — so it’s really exciting."
But this project is about more than environmental restoration. Not only will trails in the lagoon area be expanded and improved, a park trail will also connect to the Coast to Crest trail, a mammoth multi-year undertaking that will eventually link the coast to Volcan Mountain near Julian.
“The whole trail is planned for 71 miles and we have 49 miles on the ground today and right now we’re working on the 50th mile," Anderson said.
The lagoon restoration is set to be complete by mid-2024, a place surrounded by the "busyness" of life where people and animals will find an oasis of nature’s beauty.
