Future Chollas Creek Project Part of Bigger Plan to Transform Communities Along Watershed

City Heights is considered one of San Diego’s most park-poor communities and it’s finally getting the attention of all the right people. Amazon creator Jeff Bezos may have never been to City Heights, but his Earth Fund is helping usher in a new era in the community thanks to the decades-long work of a local non-profit, Groundworks San Diego.

The executive director of the local branch of a nationwide organization, Leslie Reynolds, has been working to bring attention to the badly neglected Chollas Creek Watershed. The idea is to restore it back to its original state as a natural resource in the area, and rebuild the surrounding areas with parks, playgrounds, and trails. It’s something the City of San Diego is on board with, falling in line with the Climate Action Plan and declaring it as part of a regional park plan.

Chollas Creek as it exists now is an eyesore peppered with graffiti and trash. Reynolds told NBC 7, the decision to channelize the watershed many years ago has contributed to flooding issues on residential streets. It has also been a point of contention for the non-profit. Their goal is to work to end the environmental and racial injustice that has neglected the area of necessary outdoor amenities and resources.

“When you look at park deficiency, the highest asthma rates, the highest pollution, the highest water quality impairment. This is a 303-d-listed polluted waterway under the State Water Act. So these are all indications of underinvestment and injustice that are being rectified now,” said Reynolds.

Reynolds confirmed Groundworks San Diego had been awarded $8M in funding to de-channelize the creek, and build a park nearby, and trails, and it’s part of something bigger.

The city’s Chollas Creek Regional Park plan will create a network of parks and connect communities along the creek the entire way to San Diego Bay.

“These children have no way to get anywhere. And one of the tenets of climate action is clean mobility. That is getting places without your cars and going to spaces to get out of your homes when it’s hot that have trees and cooling and activities for you,” said Reynolds.

Through state and non-profit grants, Reynolds said City Heights will finally get the parks it deserves.

“This is going to abate the flooding, put trees in, clean the air and provide wildlife corridors. And most importantly just give the residents back what they once had which is access to this beautiful water system,” said Reynolds.

It's expected to be completed by 2024.