I drove from I-5, east on the Garden Highway today, to see what damage the high-water flows on the American River have caused to the confluence area of the Parkway, and it is a muddy, debris-ridden, standing-water mess that reminds you, visually at least, of a swampy industrial backwater.
Discovery Park is closed, as is Northgate Boulevard from the Garden Highway. It is a real shame that one of the most beautiful areas of the Parkway is so damaged and inaccessible, and apparently will be for weeks.
The integrity of the Parkway is important to protect, particularly this area that is central for some of the poorer communities adjacent to the Parkway, as environmental justice calls on public leadership to protect those park and open space areas which are often the only natural resources available to the poor.
We can do a better job taking care of our Parkway.
Hopefully, with the levee improvements, the raising of Folsom Dam, and a major new dam built on the American River, it might be that in 15 years or so, we will see the Parkway well protected from this type of all-too-regularly-occurring devastation.
