Cottonwood Creek Park, Encinitas

Cottonwood creek park is the newest park in Encinitas, finished in May 2004. It was built on an empty parcel of land in downtown Encinitas used for storage and truck parking for the works department. Cottonwood Creek, a historic creek that allowed for the development of early Encinitas, was located in a 96” pipe underneath the property. In an effort to improve the water quality, the City of Encinitas re-surfaced the creek and built an 8-acre passive recreation park, designed by award winning Landscape Architecure firm Schmidt Design Inc.

Creek Resurfacing:

The creek emerges from underneath Encinitas Boulevard and first flows into a sedimentation pond. This is where all the impurities in the water can settle into the mud of the, once the water leaves the pond it flows for 600 feet over boulders through Willows, Cottonwoods, Sycamores and other native Californian rushes. This process helps aerate the water and clean it further. The natural daylight also gives a chance for the unwanted bacteria, which were very prevalent in the underground creek, to die.

Image 1: Sedimentation pond.

Improved Water Quality:

The quality of water that comes out of the creek onto Moonlight Beach has improved greatly since the park has been built, according to Heal The Bay, a Southern California non profit which determines water quality at beaches. The water quality has been tested at Moonlight Beach since 2002, and there is a notable improvement in 2004 when the park was finished and water began flowing through the resurfaced creek.

Image 2: Interpretive signs inform the public about how the creek cleans the water.

Permeable Paving:

The park also minimized runoff by paving most surfaces with permeable paving. All pedestrian paths are made with decomposed granite, which also allows water to filter through. The parking lot is made of a concrete which allows most water to pass through. The water that does run off the parking lot, runs through a series of gutters filled with large stones to slow the water before it enters the creek.

Image 3: most of the paving surfaces at the park.

Pedestrian Trails:

This park also provides crucial linkages and paths for pedestrians, bicyclists, and runners to get around the city. These paths encourage people to walk and exercise from Leucadia to downtown Encinitas. Pedestrians can also take a slight detour through the park instead of walking along busy Encinitas Boulevard. Paths such as this improve the quality of life for the residents of Encinitas and contribute to the social sustainability of Encinitas.

Image 4: Pedestrian access to adjacent neighborhood, notice the DG handicap ramp on the left.

Image 5: Picture taken when the park was just finished in 2004

Image 6: Picture from the same location, vegetation grown in 4 years later.

Image 7: cool detail, cobble-stone gutter that slows the water down before it enters the creek.

The San Elijo Nature Center and Lagoon

Due to be completed in March 2009, the new San Elijo Nature Center in Cardiff, California will be a sustainably constructed, energy generating building. It will showcase the San Elijo Lagoon’s ecosystems, along with the sustainable building techniques it employs. The community will use this building to learn about the Escondido creek watershed, whose output is the mouth of the San Elijo Lagoon. Also, in an effort to practice what it preaches, the nature center will teach people about the advantages of LEED and sustainable design.

Image 1: The San Elijo Lagoon is already a popular place for evening dog walks and bird watching. The new nature center will blend in with its surroundings.

The building designed by Zagrodnik + Thomas Architects is 4230 square feet, cost $4.7 million to build, and is on track to be LEED Gold Certified. Its footprint is the same as the original nature center, which didn’t have much function except to facilitate some group activities. The building also has photovaultaic panels, which supply the building with 52% of its energy requirements. Other green building elements include: radiant floor heating, green planted roof, recycled cotton insulation, certified renewable lumber, natural daylighting and ventilation, storm water filtering, native vegetation and recycled water used for both irrigation and to supply the toilets.

As a Cardiff resident and weekly frequenter of the San Elijo Lagoon, this is a welcome addition to this small community. A new superstar-building like this will hopefully bring more people to the nature center and lagoon to learn about these fragile wetland environments and green building techniques. It has already received numerous press articles and a nomination for an orchid award this year.

Image 2: The nature center facing west, still under construction. Existing native California vegetation in front of the building.

Image 3: Nature center's viewing deck with photovoltaic pergola.

Image 4: while the construction footprint is small, heavy machinery is still being used for construction.

Image 5: Architect's renderings of the finished building.