Board funds a study of new wildlife habitat and water plan
By: Anne Krueger

LA MESA — A $1.1 million environmental study for a plan to generate more drinking water and create a wildlife habitat in Lakeside’s El Monte Valley was approved this week by the Helix Water District board.

The unanimous vote came Wednesday after district officials told the board the project shouldn’t be delayed any longer, despite a lawsuit filed against Helix.

“There’s a critical timeline, and we need to get started,” Helix Principal Engineer Tim Smith said.

However, an attorney for a business partnership with a 60-year lease on the land questioned why the board approved the work without consulting with his clients.

“I find it very surprising how they’re continuing to move ahead when we have the property tied up for the next 60 years,” said attorney Vince Bartolotta, who represents the El Monte Golf Club partnership in a lawsuit against the district. “They can’t come on our land and push us aside.”

Helix attorney Scott Smith said the lease was terminated when the partnership filed the lawsuit in December 2008 and stopped paying rent of $25,000 a month. “We consider the lease over,” he said.

The environmental report would be paid for with $375,000 in federal stimulus money, plus money from the San Diego County Water Authority and other state and federal grants. The Helix board had tentatively approved going ahead with the report in September, but put off final approval because of the lawsuit.

The Helix Water District serves about 260,000 people in El Cajon, La Mesa, Lemon Grove and Spring Valley. It has owned about 500 acres in the El Monte Valley since the 1900s and kept water wells there until they were no longer needed.

The partnership had planned to build two golf courses off El Monte Road, and signed the 60-year lease with the water district in 1997. It conducted environmental studies and graded the land, but abandoned the plans in 2005 when the market for golf courses waned.

A new plan to create a water recharge basin and nature habitat at the site was proposed, in which reclaimed water from the Padre Dam Municipal Water District’s water recycling plant in Santee would be mixed with untreated water and piped 12 miles to El Monte Valley. The water would seep into the aquifer under 80 acres, then be removed from up to 31 wells and piped three miles away to Helix’s water treatment plant in Lakeside.

More than 10 million cubic yards of sand would be excavated over 15 years to create the recharge basin. The district would also install five miles of pipeline to serve 30 customers near the site who could no longer use their wells.

Helix officials say the process would provide up to 5,000 acre-feet of water a year, enough for 10,000 families. The district also plans to create a 380-acre wildlife habitat in the valley, lower the San Diego River channel by 12 to 14 feet and remove non-native plants.

Helix General Manager Mark Weston said the district expects to spend about $80 million for the pipelines and wells, while Padre Dam has estimated spending $100 million to upgrade its treatment plant. The Endangered Habitats Conservancy, a subsidiary of the Endangered Habitats League, would restore the habitat at a cost of about $50 million, Weston said.