San Diego, CA

Blocked channel leads to fish die-off in San Elijo Lagoon

Published

1 year ago

September 17, 2024

Blocked channel leads to fish die-off in San Elijo Lagoon

The mouth of the San Elijo Lagoon, where a $120 million restoration was completed three years ago, is filling with sand faster than ever, a condition that endangers the wildlife there.

Last week’s warm temperatures turned areas of the closed lagoon hypoxic for the first time this year, said Jennifer Bright, chief operations officer and philanthropy director for the Nature Collective.

That means fish, mostly small anchovies, began dying because of the low oxygen levels in the stagnant water, Bright said Monday.

Fortunately, the weather turned cooler this week. The die-off slowed or stopped, and shore birds quickly cleaned up most of the evidence. Still, the winter rains that naturally restore the lagoon are months away.

The lagoon’s outlet usually is bulldozed open once each summer, Bright said. This year it’s been done twice, and it’s needed again. The first time waves took a few weeks to refill the opening with sand. The second time it took just days.

The restoration, a project 20 years in the making, widened and deepened the lagoon channel to expand and improve the wetlands habitat. A healthy and biodiverse wetlands supports hundreds of important species of plants, fish and birds that help to keep a balanced ecosystem.

“We saw a lot of success with that,” Bright said.

Eelgrass thrives in the shallow water, where the plant provides a nursery for fish. Endangered species of native birds, such as the California least tern, feast on the fish and build their nests on the shore.

“By widening the channel (in the restoration), we get three times as much tidal flow into the lagoon,” Bright said. “But what it’s also doing is bringing more sand in.”

The sand is carried farther into the lagoon than in the past, reaching the channel beneath the railroad bridge between Coast Highway 101 and Interstate 5.

Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune

The train trestle that crosses a portion of the San Elijo Lagoon in Encinitas on Monday.

The Nature Collective, formerly known as the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy, has overseen the care and preservation of the lagoon for nearly 40 years.

Almost every year the nonprofit uses bulldozers, skip loaders and trucks to open the lagoon after the summer waves build up a berm on the beach, closing the connection to the ocean.

“We knew we would still have to continue opening the inlet,” Bright said. However, the maintenance has become more than expected.

Now, in addition to another beach opening, the lagoon’s caretakers need to dredge the sand that has accumulated at the railroad bridge, an area that is harder to reach. That will require more money and heavy equipment, and probably a boat-based dredge.

A rough estimate of the work needed is $1 million, Bright said. The Nature Collective has issued a request for proposals that will help determine the cost, but so far it does not have all the money. Mitigation funds could be available from Caltrans or the San Diego Association of Governments. The lagoon restoration was paid for by Transnet, the half-cent sales tax approved by voters and administered by SANDAG.

Every year, sand from the opening is used to widen nearby beaches. During the restoration, thousands of additional cubic yards of sand dredged from the lagoon were used to expand more than half a mile of the shoreline at Cardiff State Beach.

Called the Cardiff Living Shoreline project, the sand was placed atop a buried rock revetment and planted with native vegetation to help protect Coast Highway 101 from the steady erosion of high tides and winter storms.

Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune
An egret viewed from the Solana Beach side of the San Elijo Lagoon on Monday.

All of San Diego County’s coastal lagoons would naturally close up each summer without human intervention. Some, like Agua Hedionda and Batiquitos in Carlsbad, have been modified with rock jetties and periodic dredging to stay open year round.

Sand from those projects also is placed on nearby beaches to slow the effects of coastal erosion. A number of additional local and regional replenishment projects have been completed and more are planned to dredge offshore sand and place it on the shrinking shoreline.

All that sand placement also could be affecting the lagoons, filling them up faster, but the process is complicated and more studies are needed.

California’s wetlands were once considered wastelands, only fit to be drained, filled and developed. More than 90 percent of the state’s coastal wetlands have disappeared over the last century.

Only recently have people realized the value of their special coastal habitats and passed laws to protect them.

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San Diego, CA

San Diego sues federal government over razor wire fence near U.S.-Mexico border

Published

14 minutes ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

San Diego sues federal government over razor wire fence near U.S.-Mexico border

The city of San Diego has filed a lawsuit against the federal government that alleges the construction of a razor wire fence near the U.S.-Mexico border constitutes trespassing on city property and has caused environmental harm to the land.

The complaint filed Monday in San Diego federal court states that razor wire fencing being constructed by U.S. Marines in the Marron Valley area has harmed protected plant and wildlife habitats and that the presence of federal personnel there represents unpermitted trespassing.

The lawsuit, which names the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Defense among its defendants, says that city officials first discovered the presence of Marines and federal employees in the area in December.

The fencing under construction has blocked city officials from accessing the property to assess and manage the land, and the construction efforts have” caused and will continue to cause property damage and adverse environmental impacts,” according to the lawsuit.

The suit seeks an injunction ordering the defendants to cease and desist from any further trespass or construction in the area.

“The city of San Diego will not allow federal agencies to disregard the law and damage city property,” City Attorney Heather Ferbert said in a statement. “We are taking decisive action to protect sensitive habitats, uphold environmental commitments and ensure that the rights and resources of our community are respected.”

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San Diego, CA

Padres roster review: Sung-Mun song

Published

12 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

Padres roster review: Sung-Mun song – San Diego Union-Tribune

SUNG-MUN SONG

Position(s): Third base, second base
Bats / Throws: Left / Right
2026 opening day age: 29
Height / Weight: 6-foot / 194 pounds
How acquired: Signed as a free agent in December 2025
Contract status: A four-year, $15 million deal will see Song make $2.5 million in 2026, $3 million in 2027, $3.5 million in 2028 and $4 million in 2029 if he does not opt out of last year; Half of his $1 million signing bonus is due in January 2026 and the other half in 2027; There is a $7 million mutual option for 2030.
fWAR in 2025: N/A
Key 2025 stats (KBO): .315 AVG, .387 OBP, .530 SLG, 26 HRs, 90 RBIs, 103 runs, 68 walks, 96 strikeouts, 25 steals (144 games, 646 plate appearances)

STAT TO NOTE

.214 — Song’s isolated power in 2025, a career high as he prepared for a jump to the majors. Isolated power measures a player’s raw power (extra bases per at-bat) and Song had a .190 OPS in 2018, in his third year as a pro in Korea, before it dropped to .101 in 2019 and then a career-low .095 in 2023. Hitting 19 homers pushed Song’s isolated power to .178 in 2024 and then a career-high 26 homers push it even higher in 2025.

Idle — Drafted by the Heroes in 2014, Song debuted in the KBO the following year but didn’t become a regular until 2019. A drop-off in production — he had an .884 OPS in 78 games in 2018 and a .597 OPS in 103 games in 2019 — was followed by losing the 2020 season and a chunk of the 2021 season to military service obligations. Then three straight sub-.700 OPS seasons forced Song to rethink his approach to professional baseball, especially in the face of the likes of Ha-Seong Kim, Jung Hoo Lee and Hyeseong Kim generating big-league buzz. Song started with weight training and nutrition. A hitting coach also helped him with balance, pull-side power and the ability to catch up with the sort of fastballs that seem to dog Korean players when they arrive in the States. It all added up to a breakthrough year in which Song paired 19 homers, 104 RBIs and 21 steals with a .340/.409/.518 batting line. To prove it was no fluke, Song followed up his 2024 season with another strong effort that solidified his wish to try his hand in the majors. The ensuing, four-year, $15 million deal that Song signed with the Padres in December cost his new employer a $3 million posting fee to be paid to the Kiwoom Heroes.

2026 OUTLOOK

Like Kim before him, Song appears to be joining the Padres as a utility player with the hope that he blossoms into more as he gets comfortable in a new country and league. Song had experience in Korea at third base (500 starts), second base (149 starts) and first base (38 starts). Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller even mentioned outfield reps in passing as he assessed how Song could help the Padres in 2026.

Former KBO player Sung-Mun Song shakes hands with Padres vice president of amateur and international scouting Pete DeYoung after signing a contract with the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Saturday. (Photo by Armond Feffer/San Diego Padres)

ROSTER RANKINGS

24. INF Sung-Mun Song
25. RHP Matt Waldron
26. OF Bryce Johnson
27. RHP Ron Marinaccio
28. RHP Bryan Hoeing
29. LHP Kyle Hart
30. RHP Jhony Brito
31. INF Will Wagner
32. OF Tirso Ornelas
33. RHP Garrett Hawkins
34. RHP Miguel Mendez
35. RHP Daison Acosta
36. RHP Ty Adcock
37. RHP Alek Jacob
38. INF Mason McCoy

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San Diego, CA

Poway removes hundreds of trees to make city safer

Published

1 day ago

January 5, 2026

Press Room

Poway removes hundreds of trees to make city safer

Drivers traveling through the city of Poway may have noticed a dramatic change to the landscape. Since September, more than 1,400 trees — many of them eucalyptus — have been removed as part of the city’s hazardous mitigation grant project aimed at reducing wildfire risk and improving public safety.

Poway is spending roughly $3 million on the effort, which focuses on removing trees that are dead, dying or considered dangerous. Much of the cost is being reimbursed by FEMA. Officials say the project is designed to make emergency evacuation routes safer while improving the overall health of trees along major roadways, rights-of-way and open spaces.

“I was relieved that there were some efforts being put into improving our resiliency to wildfire in our community,” said Poway Fire Chief Brian Mitchell.

Mitchell said spacing out trees can slow the spread of a wildfire and prevent roads from becoming blocked during an emergency.

“That certainly has the potential to block our first responders from accessing somebody’s house in the middle of an emergency,” Mitchell said.

City leaders also point to storm safety as a key reason for removing hazardous trees under controlled conditions rather than risking falling limbs or entire trees during severe weather.

“I don’t want to be driving down that street and just a random limb just happened to collapse, you know, just hit me,” said Poway resident Dawn Davis.

Davis said she also worries about the threat the trees pose to nearby homes.

“I don’t want anybody’s homes here to be damaged, either by them or fire,” Davis said.

A Poway spokeswoman said a certified arborist evaluated nearly 6,800 trees in Poway. About 2,800 invasive trees were recommended for removal.

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.

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