Groups contend overdevelopment killed oak

| Thursday, May 8, 2003 10:00 PM PDT ∞

JENNIFER KABBANY
Staff Writer

VISTA ---- Overdevelopment is killing the Agua Hedionda Creek.

That's the contention of some 20 environmentalists, who met Thursday morning next to a dead, 200-year-old coastal oak lying next to the creek to talk about ongoing damage to the watershed and what to do about it.

"Our goal is not to stop development," said Diane Nygaard, president of the environmental group Preserve Calavera, who organized the gathering. "We're trying to shape development."

The Agua Hedionda Creek begins behind Palomar College in San Marcos, flows through Vista, and empties into the Agua Hedionda Lagoon in Carlsbad. Much of the creek is found in Calavera, a 180-acre, open-space preserve mainly in Carlsbad, with parts in southwest Vista and southeast Oceanside.

Thursday morning's brainstorming was the first step in forming a partnership among Preserve Calavera, the San Marcos-based Friends of the Hedionda Creek, the University of California Natural Reserve System, concerned residents and other members of various North County environmental groups. Its members say they hope by working together further damage might be prevented.

Once the partnership is officially formed, council members from each of the cities, as well as county representatives, could attend its meetings and discuss with the activists upcoming development projects. In return, the activists would offer advice about environmental concerns and work with officials to avoid potential problems and help clean up the creek.

The activists' case got a boost from Vista Mayor Morris Vance, who was on hand to listen to their concerns and answer questions. Vance also was quick to point out that development is part of life in North County.

"This is one of the greatest cases for some sort of regionalism (because) the watershed doesn't have city boundaries," Vance told the activists. "We try to work a balance of what people who move to the area want. We haven't been perfect, we've tried to do the best we can. Unfortunately, it's a very popular place to live."

So popular, if fact, that stormwater has no place to soak into the ground because it's covered in "hardscape" ---- parking lots, shopping centers, roads, houses ---- development. Large amounts of stormwater sweeps through the creek after a heavy rain, taking nutrients and other vital components of the ecosystem with it. This is why the oak tree died, Nygaard said.

"This tree did not die of natural causes," she said.

Isabelle Kay, a member of the UC Natural Reserve System, said the oak did not die of sudden oak death syndrome, a highly contagious fungal disease plaguing some oak groves in Northern California.

"When it's not in the ground anymore, you know it did not die of natural causes," she said of the oak, which is lying on its side along the creek, its roots dangling in the air.

"Soil has been lost in this creek, at least four or five feet," she said. "Soil would have been covering those roots."

Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (760) 809-5715 or jkabbany@nctimes.com.

5/9/03

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, email addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.