The restoration of the San Dieguito Lagoon achieved a major breakthrough – literally – in early June when a berm holding back the sea was opened, allowing salt water to fill a new area of the 64-acre salt marsh and wetlands just east of Interstate 5 (above).

One of the last steps in Caltrans and SANDAG’s ambitious two-year, $87 million W-19 restoration project, the work is designed to sustain flooding and future sea level rise – along with creating nesting and foraging areas for threatened and endangered wildlife.

A recent aerial view looking west (below) shows the entire restored tidal channel and saltwater wetlands enclosed by newly planted berms that parallel the San Dieguito River channel to the north. Most of the reclaimed river valley was once a maze of tomato and bean fields as seen in a view looking south over the same area in 1987 (bottom photo).