June 8, 2006
DIAMOND VALLEY LAKE RECORDS VISITOR MILESTONE;
EL CAJON RESIDENT CROWNED LUCKY FISHERMAN
Recreational amenities continue to expand at lake complex
HEMET, CA—Diamond Valley Lake, along with the city of Hemet, today welcomed Bill Connelly of El Cajon as the 150,000th guest to visit the expanding recreational and educational complex in southwest Riverside County.
Connelly became the milestone guest as he and his wife, Farice, arrived at dawn at the Diamond Valley Lake. True to the lake’s reputation as a reservoir friendly to fishers, Connelly was allowed to fish for a few hours before being asked to return to the marina for the awards ceremony.
“This milestone is a reflection of Diamond Valley Lake’s increasing popularity,” said Jill T. Wicke, real property development and management manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which owns and operates the 4,500-acre lake.
“Diamond Valley opened with a lot of fanfare for its quality fishing, but we and our tenants have been slowly adding other features that are making this complex a well-rounded recreational, educational and cultural facility,” Wicke said.
Duane Baker, Hemet senior assistant city manager, said Diamond Valley remains the most promising tourist attraction in the region.
“The fishing experience is well known, and the addition of hiking and equestrian trails is exciting. Now, in 2006, we will begin to see the positive impacts from the long-anticipated opening of the museum complex and local recreational facilities,” Baker said.
Mark Goldberg, chair of the Hemet Visitor and Tourism Council, said the reservoir was an attraction during construction for people wanting to see the “major earth-moving activities and engineering feats. The premier fishery has now replaced construction as a major attraction.”
Diamond Valley, built by Metropolitan as a critical surface storage reservoir to provide additional water reliability to Southern California, opened to the public in October 2003 with just a boat ramp and sparse marina amenities. Yet, the extensive effort to build a world-class fishery from scratch quickly became evident as the lake began producing quality catches of largemouth bass, rainbow trout, catfish and bluegill.
In June 2004, Metropolitan opened the 6.5-mile North Hills Trail for hiking and equestrian use. In February 2005, a seasonal “flower” trail was opened, followed in July 2005 by the nearly 22-mile Lakeview Trail, offering mountain bikers and hikers the opportunity to circumnavigate the entire lake.
This Saturday, June 10, the Valley-Wide Recreation and Park District will open its Aquatic Center at the lake. Later this year, the Center for Water Education and the Western Center for Archaeology and Paleontology are scheduled to open a large, two-museum complex respectively highlighting the story and history of water and featuring some ice-age artifacts, including the largest intact mastodon unearthed in the western United States.
As the milestone visitor, Connelly received an annual pass to the lake by the marina operators, fishing gear gift cards from the tourism council, as well as Diamond Valley shirts and a gift bag of city of Hemet memorabilia from Baker.
Connelly, who said this was his second visit to the lake, was in shock over the acclaim. “I almost didn’t become the 150,000th. We were actually trying to fish yesterday, but it was a bit too windy in the afternoon for us,” Connelly said. “And, we tried to be the first at the gate today, but we were running about 30 minutes late.
“So, I guess we’re lucky. It’s like going to a slot machine and hitting the jackpot on the first try,” he added.
Although he came up empty during his early morning fishing, Connelly said he was eager to get back out on the lake to again sample the fishery.
