SPECIAL
EDITION

Massive Jail Complex Will Destroy Vital Wildlife Corridor
By Paul Lewin
November 30, 2010
Co-chair, Committee to Preserve Coachella Valley Life and Values
info@movethatjail.org
Who to Contact
Supervisor John Benoit
Submit official comments
Editor of the Desert Sun
Sign the petition
Time is running out for Coachella Valley residents who care about the preservation of open spaces and understand the need for animals and plants to migrate from one location to the other.

The beautiful mountain pass that separates the San Jacinto Mountains and the San Gorgonio/San Bernardino mountains represents what is known as a “least-cost corridor” for animal migration. Essentially a least-cost corridor is the shortest distance between the alpine habitats that is home to mountain lions, bears, owls, and even the American Badger. This narrow gap between two mountain ranges, that extends from Cabazon to the Whitewater river has already been severely degraded by the I-10 freeway, which presents
a nearly impenetrable barrier to animal migration.

To mitigate this deadly river of concrete and barreling vehicles, there are a few bridges and underpasses which allow animals which are lucky enough to discover these gaps to safely cross from one range to the other. One of the most critical underpasses is the Stubbe Canyon Wash Bridge, in unincorporated Whitewater, which is about 1 mile from where Highway 111 intersects Interstate 10. It is specifically designed to
accommodate the needs of wildlife.
Mt. San Jacinto's north face -- this is the corridor wildlife uses coming down from the San Jacinto National Monument and the Snowcreek area, crossing under the I-10 and the Stubbe Canyon Wash as they head out to San Gorgonio and the San Bernardino Mountain range.
Until now this special bridge has served its purpose, because the land around it was essentially rural and low-density housing. All of that is about to change.

Permanent Destruction

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors has decided to build the largest jail complex in our county’s history right at Whitewater. Covering 140 acres, this jail will house 7,200 inmates. All vehicle access to the jail will utilize the Stubbe Canyon bridge. The county predicts 6,000 passenger equivalent trips per day will cross the bridge, including semi-trailers, inmate transport busses and of course jail visitors and staff (truck route indicated in blue on the map).

The bridge will be a mere 7 feet above the desert sand.

Wildlife is most likely to attempt to cross the I-10 under cover of night, but the jail is a 24 hour facility. In addition to the noise and vibration caused by the vehicles, there is the very real impact of noise and light from the jail itself – along with the odors of high-density human occupation.

The construction of this facility will be in stages, starting at 2,000 inmates and then expanded over the years until it is fully built out with 7,200 inmates. This means that heavy construction will continue for years and even decades in what was once valuable open space.

Migrating animals also need plant cover and forage as they cross or try to survive in the wind-swept pass. But the jail will require incredible amounts of water to operate. The County indicates the jail will draw 892 acre feet of water per year (or 290 Million gallons). Water will be supplied by drilling wells directly into the aquifer sub-basin on which the jail will be located. Drawing that much water for the jail will inevitably lower the water table in the surrounding area, starving the existing plants and trees of their access to the aquifer. Without cover and forage, the ability of animals and plants to migrate or even survive will be further degraded.

As a final insult to the ecology of this delicate inter-mountain zone, the jail will require an enormous sewage treatment plant to process the 677,000 gallons of sewage generated per day. The sewage plant and it's open air sludge fields will sit closest to the Stubbe Canyon wildlife bridge. The odors and the inevitable wind-blown material from the sewage sludge cannot be a benefit to its use as a migration path.

As California wildfires become ever more deadly, animals absolutely require undisturbed, well-trod corridors that allow them to migrate when fires or other hazards make one mountain range uninhabitable. Once this jail is built, the animals that once followed a familiar path of migration will now encounter a development so massive it will cease to have utility.

Killing a Monument Before Birth

Sadly, the areas all around the proposed jail are about to become our nation’s newest national monument: The Sand to Snow National Monument – a complement to the San Jacinto National Monument that lies on the other side of I-10. What should have been the key linkage between the two national monuments will be permanently severed by locating the jail complex right at the one spot that connects the two wilderness zones.


You Can Still Do Something



Time has not entirely run out. People who care still have a chance to act now, to have the jail relocated where it will not cause so much damage.


In fact, the County owns four other parcels of land which could be used for this jail. All of them are in the inland empire area between the 60 freeway and the 215 freeway. None of the other locations would be as disastrous as this location.
This map shows the other FOUR locations that the county has already identified to place the jail.


The County of Riverside is accepting public comments regarding  the jail’s location and its impacts on wildlife and the environment only until Dec. 13th. Anything received after this will not be considered.

Taking action now can preserve a vital link in our ecology. Letters can be submitted online here. If you submit online, remember to compose your letter in a word processor first:
http://saferstreets.countyofriverside.us/comments.html


We have an urgent need for CEQA experts and/or wildlife experts, because while we know the County’s mitigation plan is not sufficient, we need experts who can assist us with establishing this in fact. For instance, the county claims that there are no endangered desert tortoises to be affected, based on the observation of two paid consultants who looked for this endangered animal on one single day: May 28, 2010. They also spent all of 45 minutes looking for burrows of the Burrowing Owl on May 28, 2010. We know this from the Draft EIR appendix data.

Volunteers or recommendations on who to contact with regard to water and wildlife issues can be submitted to: info@MoveThatJail.org

We also need people to write letters to the editor of the Desert Sun and to contact their city council members, along with Supervisor John Benoit via his website, or here.

Lastly, there is an online petition we have going which would be great to publicize. I plan to present the Supervisor with all of the signatures as well as attempt to generate major press with it.
The online petition can be found here: http://www.petitiononline.com/psprison/


If you would like to research this issue for yourself, you can download all of the EIR documents at these two links.

Main EIR documents:
http://saferstreets.countyofriverside.us/documents2009.html

Stubbe Canyon Wildlife Corridor:
http://saferstreets.countyofriverside.us/documents.html