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Photo and story by Karen PearlmanJune 26, 2025 (San Diego) – The fate of public access to the Water Conservation Garden in Rancho San Diego is a little less certain after another partner, the San Diego County Water Authority, on Thursday voted to withdraw its funding and participation from the Water Conservation Authority, operators of the Water Conservation Garden.
The Garden is a six-acre site focused on natural resource conservation and sustainability. It was initially funded starting in 1990 and opened with strong backing during an era of major drought issues in 1999. A demonstration site for water-wise landscaping that offers programming reaching across the county, The Garden had been receiving support from the SDCWA since 2001.
Combined with the exit of backing earlier this year from the financially strapped city of San Diego, The Garden now looks to lose 1/3 of its funding.
The Garden is governed by an agreement that created the Water Conservation Authority, and its remaining partners include Grossmont Cuyamaca Community College District (landowners), the Otay Water District, Helix Water District and Sweetwater Authority.
Helix Water District General Manager Brian Olney, acting administrator of The Water Conservation Garden, said while the action is a setback, it’s “not the proverbial nail in the coffin.”
“The JPA adopted a budget this year that assumes the JPA agencies will contribute to the operations, about $472,000, which is how much it takes,” Olney said.
Of the remaining members, Sweetwater Authority will contribute a maximum promised amount of $48,000, with other agencies Helix and Otay water districts filling the gap. GCCCD’s use of its property is in lieu of funding.
“The Garden itself is doing very well, thanks to (Director of Operations) Lauren Magnuson,” Olney said. “We have about $420,000 in the bank, and we’ll use some of that money in the coming year. But when you look at this long-term, this probably gives us 18 to 24 months. We’ll be looking to find new memberships.”
The Garden, which turned 25 this year, has strong community support. More than 2,750 people signed a petition asking SDCWA to remain in the Water Conservation Authority.
With a frugal budget of three full-time and three part-time employees, 100 active volunteers, organized in 25 teams, help operate and maintain it. The Garden has 2,346 paid memberships and the group says that 15,000 people visited in the past year.
Through the decades, 90,000 elementary and middle school students from across San Diego County have visited on school field trips.
The Water Conservation Authority in April 2024 took over the management of The Garden from a now defunct third-party group called Friends of The Garden, which had all but emptied the coffers of the facility amid pandemic era challenges.
The SDCWA’s administrative and finance committee earlier on Thursday morning conferred to discuss an initial two options – to withdraw, or to withdraw with a parting contribution of $150,000 over the next two years.
After hearing from Olney, Magnuson and several longtime volunteers, the committee’s Ditas Yamane from Sweetwater Authority and Princess Norman from Ramona Municipal Water District put forth a third motion: to remain. That idea failed.
Following, committee member Lindsey Leahy of the City of Oceanside and representatives of the city of San Diego moved to withdraw without giving any money. That suggestion also failed.
Toward the end of the discussion, committee members Frank Hilliker of Lakeside Water District and Neil Meyers of Olivenhain Municipal Water District moved to withdraw with a final one-time funding input of $50,000.
Otay Water District Director Steve Castaneda encouraged the Committee to make a final contribution, praising the volunteers’ efforts, saying “These people can stretch a penny as wide as The Water Conservation Garden itself.”
That motion passed 6-4 to be carried over to the consent calendar before the full SDCWA Board in the afternoon.
But at the SDCWA’s full 22-member board meeting later on -- of which the City of San Diego has 40% of the weighted vote -- the agency nixed the $50,000 contribution.
The Water Conservation Garden’s funding item was pulled out of the board’s consent calendar by the city of San Diego board representative Lois Fong-Sakai for discussion.
Typically items on the consent calendar approved by other committees are normally accepted by the full board but that was not the case for The Water Conservation Garden’s item.
In explaining why she couldn’t move forward with helping The Garden financially, Ishman Abdullahi, also a representative from the city of San Diego and Chair of the Administration and Finance Committee said while she understands the importance of the Garden, she had greater concerns.
“I think they do an amazing job with the education program and the outreach” but said her concern is “the finances of the organization and concerns about funding programs when we ourselves are struggling with paying all of our obligations.”
Magnuson, who has been working with The Water Conservation Garden for more than a decade, said while she is disappointed, she has assured the volunteers that the site will progress and move forward.
“We’re going to go into our planning session in July and look at our revenue streams, our partnerships and programs, and make up the difference without them,” she said.
Kim Hales and Suzanne Till, board members from the Padre Dam Municipal Water District, which at one time was a JPA member of The Garden, both spoke as residents but not as part of Padre Dam at the SDCWA’s afternoon session, with Hales championing The Garden and urging continued support from SDCWA.
During discussions in the morning and afternoon, Kathleen Coates Hedberg, Helix Water District and Water Conservation Authority president, listed reasons why the SDCWA Board should keep its membership.
Although SDCWA ultimately voted to withdraw without funding, Hedberg said, “This is an unfortunate outcome. However, the JPA Board will make every effort to find new partnerships to keep this valuable resource open for San Diego County.”
If adequate funding cannot be found, the Water Conservation Authority has the option to turn over control of the garden to the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College district, but if that happens, there is no guarantee how many hours a week of public access would be preserved, since the college district’s priority will be education of its students.
The board on Thursday also approved wholesale water rates for 2026, approving a recommended budget for the next two fiscal years.
The SDCWA’s 2026 wholesale water rate will increase to 8.3 percent -- which board chair Nick Serrano, who is also deputy chief of staff for city of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, said is less than half of what was forecasted in early 2025, when officials forecasted an 18 percent increase.
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