Water Board Sinks Proposal to Allow Float Tubes on Lake Ramona

Paul Owens, a local pastor, appeared before the Ramona Municipal Water District board of directors at its Dec. 27 meeting in hopes of making a convincing argument that float tubes should be allowed on Lake Ramona.

An avid fisherman, Owens said allowing float tubes would be a benefit to people who use the lake for fishing. He assured the board there would not be an influx of people coming to the lake for float tubing. He estimated there would not be more than 30 tubes in use during an entire year.

“It’s not easy to carry a float tube in from Poway to that lake and I can guarantee you you’re not going to have a bunch of people doing that,” Owens said. “There are guys who do what they’re not supposed to. They fish off the rocks on the dam. There’s nobody there to tell them what to do.”

RMWD General Manager David Barnum said there are no funds provided in the current budget to begin a study on recreational uses at the lake. He also pointed out there would be other requirements that would need to be studied, such as higher insurance costs as well as approval by the insurance company to allow float tubing, the possibility of hiring an on-site attendant at the lake and an independent investigation by the Department of Dams, among others.

Lake Ramona was dedicated in August 1988. Fishing is allowed from sunrise to sunset. There is no attendant on duty. The only requirement is a valid California state fishing license. Fishermen hike from the Blue Sky Ecological Reserve in Poway to the lake, a distance of at least two miles.

The lake cannot be reached from the Ramona side because of a gate blocking vehicles from being driven along Green Valley Truck Trail in Highland Valley. The gate, installed to prevent trespassing on private land, was provided in part by the water district and also paid for by residents in the area.

Although body contact with the lake is not allowed to avoid contamination, there have been occasions when it could not be avoided.

“I’ve fallen into the lake on three occasions but was able to scramble out,” Owens said. “People swim in that lake all summer. The lake is already contaminated by that.”

Swimming in the lake is not allowed, nor is fishing off the dam or the use of boats, kayaks or float tubes. Barnum said the Sheriff’s Department is made aware when any occurrences are reported.

After considerable discussion, the board voted to bring the issue of float tubes back at a future meeting. But for the present, float tubing will continue to be prohibited on Lake Ramona.

In other business, Director Kit Kesinger officially requested that the district’s consultants, Shepherd & Staats of Vista, be asked to provide more than one option on the redistricting of RMWD’s five divisions.

The proposal by the consultants that was presented to the board in November calls for about 6,700 residents in each division. The redistricting is mandated by the results of the 2010 federal census report. The district has until May to adopt the new guidelines.

Kesinger said the main reason he made the request is that he feels more options should be made available for the directors to decide on the proper one, and not just accept a single option as presented by the consultants.

“One of the issues I have here is, we hire consultants to bring back a single option,” Kesinger said. “We’re asking consultants to make board decisions for us.”

Kesinger had also asked staff if additional options had been made available to the board 10 years ago following the 2000 federal census. Barnum said a review of meeting minutes from that time did not indicate additional options had been presented to the board. Shepherd & Staats also served as consultants to the district in 2001.

Legal counsel Sophie Akins told the board a public hearing must be held before the directors can make a decision on redistricting. The majority of the directors agreed to move ahead with the proposal by the consultants and schedule a public hearing.

Also on the agenda, the meeting schedule for 2012 was adopted. The board will continue to meet at 4:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, with the exception of November and December. On those months, meetings will be held only on the second Tuesdays due to the holidays.

By eliminating the two meetings, the general manager said the district would save $1,000 in labor costs. The board can, however, schedule special meetings as needed.

The next water board meeting will be Jan. 10 at , 434 Aqua Lane.