With San Vicente Reservoir set to close for recreation at sundown Labor Day, visitors are hitting the East County fishing and water sports mecca for a nostalgic last look.
“As it gets closer and closer, I'm hearing more and more stories from the old-timers who used to fish here when it first opened,” said Kevin Kidd-Tackaberry, ranger diver for the city of San Diego's Water Department. “One of them said he just had to get out because he didn't know if he'd be around when they reopened it for fishing. He remembered the old days, when the reservoir keeper knew everyone by name, even cooked breakfast for them.”
JOHN GIBBINS / Union-Tribune
San Diego Water Department diver ranger Kevin Kidd-Tackaberry will help oversee the dam construction at San Vicente Reservoir.
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Built in 1943, San Vicente has been a destination for thousands of outdoors enthusiasts since it was opened for fishing and boating in the mid-1960s.
The reservoir near Lakeside was part of a breakthrough idea in the mid-1980s when water-contact sports were added, a first for reservoirs in the region that supplied drinking water.
The city of San Diego is pulling the plug on recreation at San Vicente to allow the county Water Authority to raise the dam 117 feet to a height of 337 feet.
Construction on the $568 million project is expected to take up to four years. Refilling the reservoir to a level that will sustain recreational use could take another two to five years, depending on runoff from three small creeks and water purchases during winter months.
At its new capacity, San Vicente will hold more water than Barrett, El Capitan, Hodges and Lower Otay combined. Its 242,230 acre-feet of water would be enough to supply nearly 500,000 families for a year.
“Lowell Island will be a small circle rather than oblong-shaped like it is now,” said Larry Rodrigues, reservoir keeper at San Vicente who has worked at the lake for 21½ years.
Some anglers have talked about going to Lower Otay, Miramar and Murray, lakes that will be open year-round to fishing. Water skiers and wake boarders will go to El Capitan.
“The concern I have is that with this lake used by so many water sports folks, how much pressure is El Capitan going to get now?” said El Cajon's Andy Paluczak, one of the many fishermen making a final visit to San Vicente in recent weeks. “It's already miserable when I fish there on Fridays.”
To prevent overcrowding, El Capitan has a boat limit on weekends. Boaters sometimes wait hours to launch their craft.
Diane Vance, owner of Lakeside Bait and Tackle, said San Vicente is one of the region's best lakes for tournament fishing.
“It's close and convenient,” Vance said. “But we'll all have to adjust. Do we have a choice?”
Frank Glenn, whose water-ski club helped the city with wake-break projects and other issues at San Vicente, hopes the city provides another lake for water contact.
“We're forming an action committee to set up some dialogue with the City Council about opening up another lake to water contact,” Glenn said. “We would like them to open Lower Otay.”
That could be problematic, considering the U.S. Olympic rowing team uses Lower Otay for training.
Joe Weber, city lakes program manager for the Water Department, said there is no plan to open an additional lake for water contact.
Fishermen are worried, too, hoping the city doesn't renege on recreation commitments at San Vicente when it reopens.
“If the city keeps poachers from decimating it when it's closed, when it reopens San Vicente will be a fantastic fishery,” said John Cassidy, a bass tournament director and owner of Angler's Arsenal in La Mesa. “It will have a new-lake syndrome due to all the new minerals and vegetation that will be covered as the water comes up. It will be like Diamond Valley (in Hemet).”
Larry Bottroff, former city lakes and state fisheries biologist, predicts fishing will be fantastic when San Vicente reopens.
“This lake has always had so much habitat because of the structure it was built over,” Bottroff said. “There's so much brush and oaks out there that will be covered. Imagine the cover these fish are going to have once the water comes up.”
Kidd-Tackaberry said he hears stories from folks either selling their boats or talking more about going out of the county for recreation.
“One guy said he was selling his boat because he wasn't going to wait seven to eight hours in line at El Capitan to get onto the reservoir to ski,” Kidd-Tackaberry said. “The Environmental Impact Report didn't calculate the fiscal impact this closure will have on businesses and people's lifestyles.”
Recreation facilities are expected to be improved when San Vicente reopens.
A Water Authority spokeswoman said construction costs for new marina facilities will run $10 million to $15 million and include a 775-foot, six-lane launch ramp. There will be 250 parking spaces (double the current amount), a concession building and comfort station, extended courtesy dock, boat rental dock and a floating fishing pier with wheelchair access.
Weber said the Boating and Waterways Department, which provided grant money for the existing marina and launch, is OK with the new plan as long as existing facilities are replaced.
“The County Water Authority plans to go above and beyond to make it better,” Weber said.
That's great news to fishermen such as Buck Buckhanan, a San Vicente regular who fishes in numerous bass tournaments. Buckhanan, 59, will be 65 to 68 years old when San Vicente reopens.
“I plan on being around,” he said. “I've been coming here for 40 years. I'll be here five days before they open it, sleeping in my truck in line to get the first chance to fish it.”
Ed Zieralski: (619) 293-1225; ed.zieralski@uniontrib.com
