30-01-2025
Lake Hodges tour guides say low water levels negatively impacting business
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Brian Caldwell has been leading photo tours on Lake Hodges for years, with many spectators drawn in by wildlife.
'Clarks and Western Grebes, which are iconic birds of Lake Hodges, so they have a very interesting and dynamic courtship routine a lot of people like to photograph,' said Brian Caldwell, Lake Hodges Photo Tours Company Owner.
But after an inspection in 2022, the state mandated the water level be dropped, and Caldwell noticed a change in the wildlife population.
'The number of birds has dropped significantly. We've got probably 10 percent of the birds we had just three years ago,' Caldwell said.
It is negatively impacting his business and causing profits to plummet.
'It's become more difficult because there's not as much activity,' Caldwell said.
The City of San Diego released a statement, saying the following:
The reduction in water level at Hodges Reservoir does not affect the majority of wildlife species present and around the reservoir. Two species that are sensitive to sudden fluctuations in water level are the western and Clark's grebes. The City of San Diego has been continuously monitoring grebes at Hodges Reservoir since 2019. Survey data indicates stable population numbers within the grebe colonies, and as recently as 2024, surveys showed successful nesting that resulted in juveniles. Grebes observed in Hodges Reservoir are not listed as threatened or endangered by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife or United States Fish and Wildlife Service and are not under threat of extinction.
The number one priority of the City's Public Utilities Department is public safety. The City is maintaining the water level of Hodges Reservoir at a safe elevation in accordance with our state regulator, the Division of Safety of Dams. In the event of a failure of the dam due to an earthquake, the 280-foot restriction level provides the lowest possible risk to the community downstream. At the 280-foot elevation level, Hodges Reservoir is still fully available for use as a water source for fighting fires. Vegetation along the exposed shoreline and within the lakebed of the reservoir is a protected wetland under local, state and federal regulations.
Caldwell says if the state mandated water level was about 10 feet higher it would create ideal nesting conditions, as it did last year when rain raised the water level.
'Unless the water comes up at least 10 feet I can't see us seeing any nesting this year,' Caldwell said.
He wants the Department of Safety and Dams to reevaluate where the lake levels need to be.
'What the state has to do is understand that there's a far greater risk to all sorts of stuff with the water low than the water high,' Caldwell added.
FOX 5/KUSI reached out to the California Department of Water Resources Division of Safety of Dams for an interview and are awaiting a response.
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