the next 20 years, industrialization including a proposed rock
quarry with cement and asphalt batch plants and a proposed landfill
on the banks of the river.Existing threats to the river include sand
mining, dairy operations, cattle grazing, intense agricultural
uses, the projected increase of 1,000,000 people to the area over
the next 20 years, industrialization including a proposed rock
quarry with cement and asphalt batch plants and a proposed landfill
on the banks of the river.
The acreage surrounding Lake Henshaw, the headwaters of the river, is grazing 2500 cattle on land immediately adjacent to the lake. The cattle are free to graze and water at the lakes edge. The possibility of bacterial contamination of the groundwater as a result is very serious.
Agricultural runoff is beginning to affect water quality in the Pauma Basin area of the river where large citrus, avocado and flower growers are common.
Sand mining. Scouring during floods in this past decade resulting from sand mining activities was found to be the major cause of every bridge on the river requiring replacement or closure for extended periods of time for extensive refitting. The only exception to this was the Interstate Route 15 bridge. In 1992 the Army Corps of Engineers in conjunction with the EPA in a sweep of the river closed all sand mines with the exception of several operating on Indian land and one other. Currently, there is a very large commercial sand mining operation in the river bed in the Pala Basin. This mine, in the Pala Basin area has constructed a dike, approximately 2700 long and 30 feet high to divert the river flow around this facility.
The industrialization of the river is perhaps the most pressing threat to the health of the river. In 1997 the County approved a permit for a rock quarry with an asphalt and cement batching plants next to the river which including moving State Highway 76 into the actual floodway of the San Luis Rey River. This project is known as Rosemary's Mountain.
Application has been submitted to permit a solid waste landfill, at Gregory Canyon, on the banks of the river over the Pala Basin aquifer. The natural drainage is to the river which is only a few hundred feet away.
Undue political influence of a few large landowners along the river. In 1998 a group of local area residents formed a committee to submit an application nominating the San Luis Rey River as an American Heritage River. Their submission was in the final twenty applications of which ten would be selected. There was an excellent chance the San Luis Rey River would have received this designation. On the last possible day, two congressmen had the application withdrawn. They did so at the request of the Vista Irrigation District, owner of Lake Henshaw, and the owner of Rosemary's Mountain, site of a proposed quarry and a wealthy landowner.
Development to accommodate the anticipated explosion of growth in this area over the next 20 years has the potential to destroy this river and its treasures. The San Diego Association of Governments is currently preparing General Plan Amendment 2020 to plan land use in this area for the next 20 years. Much of the focus has been to designate this area to accept over one million more residents by encouraging urban sprawl. The infrastructure will not be able to accept this growth and can only lead to more contamination and the drawing down of the ground water table.
It is obvious that intelligent, coordinated planning is necessary to preserve the San Luis Rey River watershed to endure the future of this area.
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