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Community Corner

Plan Aims To Protect Cemetery's Graves

High waters from storms have been eroding burial sites at Elsinore Valley Cemetery.

For more than 25 years, officials from the District have pleaded with government agencies and developers to help curb the deluge of water that descends over graves during storms.

Tired of the blame game and pointing fingers at who should pay for what, now officials from the Riverside County Flood Control District say they will subsidize a $7.3 million plan to move forward with the development of the Arroyo Del Toro Channel at the Elsinore Valley Cemetery -- without financial assistance from other agencies.

“Involving more government and asking for help will continue to slow the process down and we just want to move forward,” said Robert Cullen, chief of design and construction at RCFCD. “We are still working on permits, finishing the design and expect to start construction in 2013.” 

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The project will collect water heading west through a series of culverts under interstate 15 into a concrete box where water would then flow to an open channel through the 26.5-acre cemetery dispersing into the marshlands west of Collier Avenue.

High waters from storms have been eroding burial sites, especially in the Jewish section formally called the Home of Peace Cemetery before Elsinore Valley took it over. The traditional Jewish graves are covered only with dirt -- no grass. In 2005, the year of the last El Nino, the waters came close to exposing the concrete vaults.

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Additionally, there are older sections in the cemetery dating back to 1896, where pinewood caskets were placed directly into the ground. Cemetery district manager Diana Russell said the older section has the lowest flood risk, but if enough water rushed, the pine boxes could deteriorate, and bones could become exposed.

“We sit here so vulnerable to the growth around us. You can’t just drop 19 culverts into a cemetery and expect it not to get flooded,” Russell said, explaining that she fears the winter of 2012 will be the next El Nino.

Richard Staley, who retired in September after 12 years on the Elsinore Valley Cemetery District Board of Trustees, said,  “There has been a lack of responsibility from those who contributed to this flooding situation for many years.”

Cullen said the location of the burial ground has always been susceptible to flooding, but development has compounded the problem.

“Today the process of looking down stream is important when reviewing a project, which wasn’t the case back in the 1970s and early 1980s,” he contends.

While the RCFCD forges ahead on the project, there’s still question about relocating utilities at the site.

Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries (R-Lake Elsinore) said he plans to facilitate a meeting next month with the State Department of Transportation, the Cemetery District, RCFCD and other local agencies to discuss who will cover that cost.

“We need cooperation from all local and state agencies and utilities,” Jeffries said. “It’s not about placing blame -- we just need to move forward.”

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