People choose to live in the backcountry of San Diego County for a reason. For many, it is an escape from the city life that they wish not to be part of. This I can easily understand with my history of a family of farmers that dates back to the 1860s. It is a different pace, provides the space needed for agriculture and raising animals for business and pleasure. And East County’s backcountry is well known for this, especially its equestrian population.
People choose to live in the backcountry of San Diego County for a reason. For many, it is an escape from the city life that they wish not to be part of. This I can easily understand with my history of a family of farmers that dates back to the 1860s. It is a different pace, provides the space needed for agriculture and raising animals for business and pleasure. And East County’s backcountry is well known for this, especially its equestrian population.
El Monte Nature Preserve, LLC’s proposal for its sand mining and nature project in El Monte is misleading in so many ways and nothing short of a catastrophe to those that live in Lakeside and the surrounding San Diego unincorporated areas. The proposal of a golf course was bad enough, forever changing the landscape of this region, but this current proposal goes further into dilapidation of the area.
It is magnificent to see that the Save El Monte Group (find them on Facebook) is pulling together with more than 300 locals attending its first organized meeting. Keep this momentum going because it is necessary in fighting against the big boys that are involved in this project. And if the people lose, the area will be a disaster for the next 20 years and never recover to its natural habitat. Although they claim that they will restore the area with native vegetation, it will destroy this riparian habitat completely.
There are so many things wrong with this project it is hard to know where to start, but first its location is right in the middle of a continuously thriving and growing community that will be affected by everything this project projects.
It is a sad and classic case of choice that places profit over people.
With its location and extracting over 199-acre area, weekdays will be horrendous for everyone involved for the next 20 years at a minimum. Unlike the sand project dumped by the Helix Water District, which would have pumped purified water into our already dying groundwater, this project only takes more water away. With the recent reports of our groundwater levels, this should be enough to stop the project, but it is not, because money and demand always take precedence before people and environment.
In full production, heavy traffic vehicles are expected at 462 round trips a day on our busiest roads in East County including El Monte Road, Lake Jennings Park Road, Maple View Road, Route 67 and I-8. This will affect everyone in East County, regardless of what community that you live in.
The project proposes noise abatement, but it will not be enough and I fear that our expansive equestrian community will suffer the most. Horses do not do well with large amounts of loud noise to the point of making them physically ill from the stress of this entire project around them. And this is a very abbreviated version.
This is not a Lakeside problem. It is an East County nightmare. Everyone that loves living or visiting East County needs to take a close look at this project and get involved. Lakeside cannot fight this battle alone, especially going up against entities such as SANDAG, SDG&E and the State, all of which fully support this project for its fine quality sand and the money saved by mining locally. It makes business sense on paper, but it makes no sense in retaining and growing a thriving community. And I am shocked at some of the organizations and people that lead them that are supporting this project.
I am looking for experts that can break down these problems mentioned, and the many other repercussions from the project in layman’s terms, so that a full understanding of how devastating this project is to East County. If you are an expert on equestrians, riparian habitat, noise pollution, the affects of totally changing an ecosystem, please contact me. I am in full support of Save El Monte, and will gladly tackle each subject one at a time. Each one has its merits, and together is the only way to attempt to stop the upcoming wreckage planned for East County.
