Old Mission Dam

Toxic Algae Bloom at Mission Trails Dam Site

Source: San Diego River Park Foundation

August 28, 2025 (San Diego) – Water samples collected last week at Old Mission Dam in Mission Trails Regional Park have tested positive for a cyanotoxin that can be harmful to people and pets.

The San Diego River Foundation has posted caution signs, in cooperation with the California Water Boards San Diego Region and rangers from the park owned by the city of San Diego.

This was detected at the lowest tier of the three tiered levels, but visitors should:

* avoid touching algae/scum

* do not drink the water

* do not let pets enter or drink the water

* keep children away from algae in the water and shore

* do not eat shellfish from the water


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SAN DIEGO'S HISTORIC PLACES: OLD MISSION DAM

By Donald H. Harrison

Originally published at San Diego Jewish World, a member of the San Diego Online News Network

November 6, 2019 (San Diego) - Old Mission Dam, a.k.a. Padre Dam, is celebrated as both a California Historic Landmark and as a National Historic Landmark for being one of the first irrigation projects on the West Coast of the United States, having been built between 1813 and 1816 by Franciscan padres and Kumeyaay laborers.


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.