Peck Road Park suffers from effects of drought, pollution

By Diana L. Roemer
Staff Writer

July 1, 2002 - San Gabriel Valley Tribune:

EL MONTE -- Peck Road Water Conservation Park in North El Monte is a haven to residents penned in by city streets and freeway offramps in the heart of the San Gabriel Valley.

But park visitors say for years the lake, actually a flood control basin, has been polluted by people.

And now, with the water level lower than ever from drought, that pollution is evident. Shopping carts, trash cans and other debris have popped up in the lake. Areas of the park on land are messy, too.

"This is a mostly forgotten reservoir that can be a true oasis in the San Gabriel Valley once again ... with a little care and maintenance ... and more water," said resident Richard Oropeza.

While county officials said the level of water is out of their hands, the trash isn't.

"We're investigating this," said Tony Bell, a spokesman for Supervisor Michael Antonovich.

The park, owned by the County Flood Control District, is maintained by County Public Works. Runners jog on its paths, families picnic at its tables and fisherman cast their lines in the basin of water fed by mountain runoff and rain, on the park's north and west sides.

While it's mostly clean of litter and locked up at night, picnic tables are etched with graffiti and broken sprinklers flood grassy areas while adjacent grassy areas stand dead and brown.

Oropeza said he loves the park and it's painful to see the neglect.

"I went to the lake (Friday) and was more appalled than before. The water level is dropping even more than last week," he said.

Johnny Marrin lives a few blocks from the park and walks his dog there regularly. He said while he's seen worse, the park isn't clean enough and the trash exposed by the low water level is a disappointment.

"It just looks very unkempt," he said. He pointed out graffiti on a park bench and a sprinkler gushing near a family playing horseshoes.

"Aren't we in a drought?" he asked.

The spewing water is a stark contrast to the level of the reservoir behind it.

Shopping carts dumped into its center protrude from the reservoir floor, visible because of the low water level.

Ducks and geese forage through the trash.

"On a one-to-10 scale of priorities, it's apparent the park is not really high with budgets the way they are," Marrin said.

Marrin said the county police curtail gang activity in the park, but when he moved to the neighborhood three years ago, he had hoped for a better park to stroll through.

County officials are undaunted by the problems and said as soon as they heard about the trash, they visited the park.

"We're going to get to the bottom of it. We'll fix it," Bell said.

-- Diana L. Roemer can be reached at (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2105, or by e-mail at diana.roemersgvn.com