Environmental Stewardship

At the 22nd District Agricultural Association, we are proud to host events and activities. And we are proud that the San Diego County community has marked the passage of time through the annual traditions and activities we have here at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, our Surf & Turf Recreation Center, and the Del Mar Horsepark.

Part of our success is due to our unique coastal location, which has helped make the Del Mar Fairgrounds a special place for our community for generations. There is nothing quite like catching a view of the sunset over the Pacific Ocean from a Ferris wheel during the San Diego County Fair.

But we also recognize that we are the stewards of property in an environmentally sensitive area that is surrounded by water.

Our Board of Directors and staff have embraced our role in managing this land and ensuring that San Diego County residents can enjoy the coastlines and this iconic gathering place for generations to come.

Highlights of Our Work

We invested $15 million in a state-of-the-art water quality improvement project that has significantly reduced pollution from stormwater runoff at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

We have given up parking to help restore over 13 acres of wetlands.

We oversee more than 18 acres of land for threatened and endangered least tern nesting sites, which have produced about 20 fledglings annually.

Our employees volunteer to participate in I Love A Clean San Diego's Coastal Cleanup Day.

We have provided easements on our land to accommodate the beautiful Coast to Crest Trail.

Through the Fair Tripper and by providing off-site shuttles, we helped divert 33,000 vehicles away from the ingress and egress points to the Del Mar Fairgrounds during the 2023 San Diego County Fair. This reduced traffic during the Fair – and related emissions.

Looking Ahead

We have received an extension of our Coastal Development Permit.

Our Board of Directors has been engaged in a strategic planning discussion about future of the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Eventually, this will eventually yield a new master site plan — an initiative we call Fairgrounds 2050. The Board has been clear that environmental stewardship will be a major consideration in these discussions moving forward.

We provide free shuttle service from off-site parking lots and partner with the North County Transit District and Metropolitan Transit Services to provide public transportation options to the San Diego County Fair.

We are working with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) on its plans to build a seasonal rail platform for the Coaster train that brings people directly to the Del Mar Fairgrounds for major events and eliminates the need for shuttle service from Solana Beach Station.

We will continue to explore public transit options to bring more fairgoers to the Fair from across San Diego County.

Water Quality Improvement Showcase

In November 2023, the Del Mar Fairgrounds hosted an event that was truly special and unique: a showcase and tour of our state-of-the-art $15 million water quality improvement initiative that is meant to protect our coastline and local beaches.

It was a beautiful day and a stunning public debut for this system, which is the first of its kind in California. Our three-step system — which includes constructed wetlands and a treatment facility — helps clean and retain stormwater and runoff from the areas of our property where animals stay.

So far, the system has been working beautifully. Tests show that we are cleaning the water retained here to levels beyond what regulatory limits require.

We were grateful to have the esteemed Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins at our event to talk about the need to practice environmental stewardship and to put our money where our mouth is.

We were also grateful for Senator Atkins' recognition of our work. In fact, Senator Atkins wrote afterward on Facebook that “The 22nd District Agricultural Association, which operates the Del Mar Fairgrounds, takes a critical leadership role with its commitment to environmental stewardship.”

As our then-Board President Joyce Rowland also said, “the 22nd DAA has shown a genuine commitment over the years to serving both this place and the people who come here in times of celebration and in times of need.”

Indeed, the Del Mar Fairgrounds is a vital and beautiful gathering place for San Diego County residents and visitors. It's the combination of our size, our diversity of events, and this location near the ocean that allows us to be such an iconic venue for our residents and for visitors beyond our county, across our nation, and around the world.

And for the millions of people who have come here since we made the Del Mar Fairgrounds our home in 1936, we are proud to have helped create countless fun and exciting memories — and to have served as a vaccination site, an evacuation site, a training site, and more.

This truly is an extraordinary and special place.

We recognize that managing this property is also a tremendous responsibility. That is why, as we continue to plan for our future in a changing climate, we know that lip service won’t cut it.

We must take steps, like this one, to help our environment while also ensuring this place thrives today and that it will be here in the decades to come for future generations of Californians.

More Initiatives

Least Tern Nest Monitoring

Least terns are an endangered species that reside along the California coast and in Arizona.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service describes least terns as such: "Long, narrow wings and a broad, forked tail identify the California least tern. Also have black-capped head and black-tipped, pale gray wings of the least tern contrast with its white body. It bears a white blaze across its forehead, dark forewings, black-tipped yellow bill, and yellowish feet. Is less the 25 cm when full grown and has 75 cm wingspan.”

The Del Mar Fairgrounds habitat restoration efforts, which include least tern nest monitoring, has created a resurgence in the least tern population locally.

Coastal Cleanup Day

Each fall, 22nd District Agricultural Association staff take part in I Love A Clean San Diego's Coastal Cleanup Day.

In 2023, the team focused on an area along the Coast to Crest Trail that was once a parking area for the Del Mar Fairgrounds. They worked to restore it to native wetlands and an upland habitat of the San Dieguito River. Now, it is now once again a thriving ecosystem.

The day of weeding and seeding was part of a larger countywide effort that included 5,000 volunteers across the region and resulted in the removal of 50 tons of litter and debris from San Diego County's coastal communities.