WHY HAVE EL CAJON’S WATERSCAPE AND DUCK POND GONE DRY?

By Miriam Raftery

Photos, left by Robert Gehr:  

May 18, 2025 (El Cajon) – For 48 years, El Cajon has had water features and ducks near its civic center in the heart of downtown. But now the water features have been drained, leaving only bare, jagged rocks where once a waterfall and streambed flowed.

“The pond is now dry and converted into a dry riverbed for the moment,”  City Manager Graham Mitchell told ECM.  “The reason for the conversion is that the pump system has failed and the bed of the pond has many leaks.” Repair cost is estimated at $500,000, he added. “Because the City Council directed staff to explore possible uses for that space, it does not make sense to put $500,000 of repairs into the feature.”

Could some waterworks remain?  “Depending on how the space around The Magnolia is programmed, the pond could come back, or it may become something else,” said Mitchell. “However, those are questions that the City Council will address later.”

The size and scope of the city’s water features have already been dramatically reduced once before.   A decade ago, facing major repair costs and drought conditions, the city sharply reduced the size of its waterscape.  Some portions of the former waterways were turned into a parking lot outside the new police station and Marriott Hotel.

The original waterscape, added in 1977, included expansive grassy knolls and shade trees for residents to enjoy. Mayor Mark Lewis even paid out of pocket to add a “duck crossing” sign when the city refused to fund it, after a duck was struck by a vehicle near the city’s duck pond—a feature Mayor Lewis pledged to retain when the East County Performing Arts Center, now The Magnolia, was remodeled.

During the revamping a decade ago, concern was raised over whether ducks would be impacted, and city officials assured that the ducks would remain.

After the original waterscape was scaled down, significant water features remained including water flowing from waterfall along Main Street, past the Magnolia Performing Arts Center towards city hall that continued to attract ducks to delight local children, residents and visitors—until now.

Photos, right:  Duck pond and other water features, before the city drained them dry

Robert Gehr, a long-time resident of downtown El Cajon, hopes to see water features restored, at least in part, and other enhancements added.

“The area, because it’s the core of the city should have a relaxing, quiet place to calm the soul—a  place where there’s plenty of deep shade with a beautiful water feature that has a large, tall fountain that creates plenty of soothing splashing sounds, which helps mask the noise of traffic,” he states in an email to ECM.

Gehr hopes to see any improvements include “a place where there’s comfortable benches to sit on, and open grassy areas to lay down on, perhaps even have a picnic” as well as “landscaping with flowering plants that would require minimal upkeep and watering, fast-growing trees to provide shade canopies, and a meandering pedestrian walkway.

He also wants to see the downtown area, including Prescott Park on Main Street, cleaned up of trash and discarded cigarettes, smoking regulations enforced, and steps taken to prevent homeless camps downtown to “keep the area safe and clean for residents and visitors.

“I think it will take years, if ever for a nice remodel of the entire area along Sulzfeld Avenue to become like it was,” he concludes, but voices concerns that this may take new city leadership. “Time is long overdue for change,” he concludes.

The Downtown El Cajon Business Partners is working to enhance and beautify downtown in a new partnership with New City America, an urban revitalization organization.  According to a public relations plan, the goal is to support property and businessowners while creating a “vibrant, welcoming environment for residents and businesses alike” that would also include new events and more.

While the plans call for "necessary infrastructure to maintain landscaping," there is no mention of restoring waterscape features--or the ducks that relied on this local water source.

Watch for details in the near future on collaborative revitalization plans.