Tires, Trash to Build New Border Field State Park Entrance

Just about everyone who knows the Tijuana River Valley knows its reputation for natural beauty, and its reputation for an abundance of sediment, trash and sewage contaminated water.

California State Parks staff at the Tijuana Estuary are currently considering a plan to use some of the things the river carries from Mexico to the United States to build a new, more welcoming entrance to Border Field State Park.  

With funding from The San Diego Foundation, the nonprofit 4 Walls International would use tires, trash, other debris and sediment to build new structures at the state park's entrance, said Acting Reserve Manager Chris Peregrin.

"The project will be tied into Tijuana River Action Month [in September], which has several community cleanup efforts. So we will be pulling some of the useful subset of trash there. We'll be pulling them aside to use in building the facility," he said.

The public is invited to view initial design concepts for a new entrance to the park and offer their own suggestions for improvements Wednesday from 4-7 p.m at the Tijuana Estuary Visitor Center at 301 Caspian Way.  

There will also be places for people to share their views on access to the park and for young people to learn about the estuary.

Currently visitors to Border Field State Park see a simple sign and closed gate. 

Due to sediment, vehicle access to Monument Mesa is often restricted for months at a time. When vehicle access is open, drivers stop at a small booth to pay a $5 entrance fee.

Among potential additions to the area include seating, maps and signs to point people toward landmarks, equestrian facilities and trails. Other signs or panels will tell people why the entrance is built of trash and sediment. 

Trash and sediment are part of the reality of the park and river valley, he said.

"Issues of sediment and trash are very significant not only for environmental health of the area but also the public's access in the river valley cause a lot of the trails in the river valley and inundated with trash flows in the winter and the sediment will inundate trails," he said. "So a lot of the places we like to access year-round are not accessible because of issues related to sediment and trash."

With seats, signs and other aesthetic improvements, people may stop and read and learn why they can't drive to Monument Mesa.

"Most of the people that show up to the entrance of the park now they don't understand what's happening," he said.

Building portions of the entrance out of tires, trash and sediment allows the park's front door to act as a learning experience, he said. More awareness could lead to more funding so a causeway or bridge can be built to improve vehicle access.

It's a strategy that seems to have helped improve water quality issues in Imperial Beach and near the U.S.-Mexico border, Peregrin said.

"I think that we can look to the water quality issues and the sewage issues of the past and how that's been brought to the public's attention, and in the past it's been a very high profile issue and the result of that has been the construction of the International Wastewater Treatment Plant," he said.

What do you think of the idea to make changes at the entrance of Border Field State Park? Should tires or trash be used? Share in comments.