Photos by Billy Ortiz; Facebook screenshots

By Mike Allen

Updated October 26 with comments from Supervisor Dianne Jacob

October 25, 2018 (Lakeside) -- The developer of the El Monte Valley Sand Mine is apparently is so sure the project will get approved he began digging Oct. 24 without a permit, but according to San Diego County he doesn’t need one.

El Monte Nature Preserve LLC, the ironically-named entity that has been seeking county approval for the mining operation on nearly 500 acres of land near Lakeside, sent a heavy equipment operator to the site Wednesday to  begin digging holes. That prompted several local mining opponents to block the operation.

By Miriam Raftery, East County News Service

June 16, 2017 (Lakeside)-- Helix Water District (HWD) received a long-anticipated $8 million check on June 16th, officially marking the end of a six-year legal dispute over a 460-acre parcel of land the water agency owned in Lakeside’s El Monte Valley. The land sale is the result of a 2014 court settlement between Helix Water District and the El Capitan Golf Club (now known as El Monte Nature Preserve LLC). 

The payment is good news for customers of the Helix Water District, where hefty rate hikes to balance budgets led to a ratepayer revolt and ouster of two incumbent board members last election.  But the final payment dashes hopes of El Monte Valley residents and Lakeside community planners opposed to El Monte Nature Preserve’s proposed   sand mining operation to extract 18 million tons of sand over 15 years from the El Monte Valley on the site.