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Our Plan > Reports > Opportunities Assessment (11/05)
Executive Summary
The watershed contains great natural beauty, recreational opportunities and biological diversity. The ecological value of the undeveloped land in the watershed is in its diversity of native vegetation communities, which provide a wide variety of essential animal habitats, including those supporting endangered and threatened species. Unfortunately, the watershed suffers from many of the same ills as other watersheds at the edge where wild lands meet urban development. Invasive exotic (non-native) species have overrun many areas, and urban problems such as crime and vagrancy are acute in the lower watershed. While the overall health of the Rose Creek Watershed (RCW) is better than many urban-wildland watersheds in Southern California, portions of lower Rose Creek, in particular, are unhealthy, unsafe and a detriment to water quality in Mission Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Compounding those urban problems, are problems of management and oversight – in particular a lack of a comprehensive vision or management approach that respects the watershed as a natural functioning system. While the watershed is entirely within the City of San Diego, it is under two governmental jurisdictions; the eastern portion under Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar and the western portion under the City of San Diego. Of the 12,201 acres of MCAS Miramar within the Rose Creek Watershed 7,477 acres are comprehensively managed as a natural open space system for as-needed training. However, responsibility for management of the ~2,900 acres of undeveloped lands west of Interstate 805 is split between multiple City of San Diego Departments and private land owners. The result is inconsistent or non-existent management. For example, the City-owned park lands in San Clemente and Rose canyons west of Interstate 805 are managed by the Parks and Recreation Department as part of the city’s open space system. Park rangers provide oversight and protection for both the natural and public resources of the two linear parks totaling 779 acres. In addition, both parks are overseen by offi cial City of San Diego citizens’ advisory committees and there is a high level of community oversight and use. However, once San Clemente and Rose creeks leave Parks’ jurisdiction and join to become Rose Creek (where Interstate 5 and State Route 52 meet), management and public oversight of the remainder of the City of San Diego-owned creek, (designated as a flood control channel), is almost non-existent until it reaches Mission Bay. Further complicating matters, the political, community and public safety oversight of this small ~80-acre, 3-mile largely industrial section of lower Rose Creek is split between two communities (Pacific Beach and Clairemont), three council districts (1,2 and 6), two county supervisorial districts (1 and 4) and two City police beats. The result: no one entity is providing focused oversight to make certain that the public land of lower Rose Creek is comprehensively managed for the public’s benefi t. This is further complicated by the City’s current fi scal problems which have stretched the City’s staff resources and limited or eliminated collaboration between departments. The end result has been that lower Rose Creek has been severely neglected. Fortunately, steps are being taken to make the watershed a healthier and safer place. The California Coastal Conservancy, the County of San Diego, the City of San Diego, San Diego Earthworks and the Rose Creek Watershed Alliance have joined together to create this Rose Creek Watershed Opportunities Assessment (Assessment), a comprehensive analysis of opportunities and recommendations to enhance the natural, cultural, public safety, and recreation attributes of the RCW. San Diego Earthworks is acting as the project manager; the consulting team includes landscape architects KTU+A, biologists Merkel and Associates, and archaeologist Dr. Susan Hector. The San Diego Natural History Museum has provided additional biological review and insight. This Assessment is intended to engage and inform the public, guide volunteers and professionals, and build policy level support within the appropriate public and private agencies to enhance and preserve the watershed. Rose Creek Watershed Opportunities Assessment San Diego Earthworks convened a public steering committee called the “Rose Creek Watershed Alliance (Alliance)” to help guide the development of the Assessment, as well as the implementation of its action recommendations. A number of community, business and environmental organizations joined the Alliance and developed an initial comprehensive vision for the Rose Creek Watershed that was incorporated into this Assessment. This Assessment is not the sole product of the watershed planning effort, but the culmination of several interim technical studies and overviews that were developed. Five additional work products are available for review at www.rosecreekwatershed.org and include: an Existing Conditions report, and technical memoranda on Cultural Resources; Recreational Trails; Biological Resources; and Hydrologic Modifications. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the project and the Rose Creek Watershed Alliance’s vision for the watershed. It also summarizes some key elements Alliance members identified while striving to achieve the vision of an integrated approach to watershed preservation and enhancement. These elements were linked to a variety of next steps to move the planning process from issue identification, through development of solutions, and on to implementation. The combination of the vision points, key elements to consider, and next steps provided the foundation on which the action recommendations in Chapter 2 were developed. Chapter 2 is the heart and soul of the Assessment as it discusses all of the actions being recommended for implementation. The chapter is organized into six sections: Proactive Conservation; Biological Resources; Cultural Resources; Public Safety; Recreational Resources; and Water Resources. The actions are designed to be used alone or in combination to systematically improve the use and function of the watershed’s resources. An “adaptive” approach is recommended that will allow for mid-course corrections, as needed, as recommendations are implemented. A summary of the recommended actions is provided below:
Chapter 3 provides an overview of the Existing Conditions report and Technical Memoranda, serving as background information in support of the action recommendations. The information provided is intended to act as a bridge between the brief summaries provided with the action recommendations in Chapter 2 and the full versions of the reports. Chapter 4 provides supplemental information on several of the actions described in Chapter 2. Information includes more detailed descriptions on recommendations such as potential restoration sites, new trail segments, stream channel restoration techniques, and concrete flood control channel restoration.
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The Rose Creek Watershed is a 36-square mile area that extends from the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar
sixteen miles along San Clemente and Rose creeks through Clairemont Mesa and University City to the east
end of Mount Soledad; later draining to the ~4,236-acre Mission Bay Park in Pacific Beach where Rose Creek
meets the ocean. |
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