Answers to Your Questions About the Proposed Cemetery
Quick intro:
A developer has applied for a permit from Riverside County to create a large, natural burial cemetery in the hills above the San Jacinto River. Their first application was sent back due to environmental concerns that need to be addressed.
The picture to the left was taken in the general area of the proposed cemetery during a rain event in November , 2025. This is in a watershed that feeds a drinking water reservoir
Q. What is natural burial?
A. Natural burial has several characteristics:
1. A deceased person is not injected with embalming fluids that slow natural decay. Instead, the body is washed, sometimes wrapped in linen or other degradable material and laid in the ground directly on top of dirt at the bottom of the grave.
2. There is no casket.
3. There is also no concrete vault that help contain poisons from corroding and degrading casket materials.
4. Everything in the grave is exposed to the earth around it.
Q. Are you opposed to natural burial?
A. Absolutely not. Natural burial, also called green burial, is reasonable when sited in appropriate locations.
Q. So, what's the concern about this particular cemetery?
A. The proposed location is in a sensitive watershed. This watershed is one source of drinking water for an area of 144,000 residents in the Lake Elsinore/Canyon Lake area. It also provides recreational water for both lakes that are enjoyed by residents and visitors for boating, swimming, waterskiing, fishing and other activities. As mentioned, we support natural burial in principle, just not in this environmentally sensitive location. As an example, Lake Elsinore sits at the end of the 780-mile square mile San Jacinto Watershed. This cemetery is proposed to be sited in the hills from which runoff and ground water flow into the San Jacinto River, which flows into Canyon Lake, and from there into Lake Elsinore. Additionally, residents near this proposed cemetery have to rely on well water for their homes.
Q. Is protecting drinking water the main or only concern?
A. Yes, drinking water, except for the well water just mentioned, is treated for human consumption by the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District. The treatment plant is designed for known existing contaminants. Water quality experts tell us that if migrating fluids from decomposing bodies enter the water supply, The treatment plant may not be able to treat everything if they don't know what is they need to treat. If additional treatment is required, modifications to the drinking water treatment may be needed which could cost the taxpayers millions of dollars in additional upgrades.
Q. How could decomposing body toxins enter water in our watershed?
A. Two most likely ways:
1. The first is migration through soil. Environmental studies have shown that fluids from naturally buried, decomposing bodies can travel many miles through soil. Since the proposed cemetery would be on a site in the hills overlooking the San Jacinto River where gravity can carry fluids in the ground into the water table, the river and then down to both lakes.
2. The second is called liquefaction. All that means is that in a potential earthquake area such as this area, liquids in the ground will rise to the surface during a seismic event. At that point they're no longer sub-surface, flowing through the strata in the earth. Instead, they become surface liquids flowing into gullies and then into the river.
Q. How many bodies would this proposed cemetery hold?
A. Over 20,000.
Q. What does a worst-case scenario look like?
A. Toxins from decomposing bodies migrate via soil or surface into the San Jacinto River, flow into Canyon Lake, and over the Railroad Canyon Dam spillway down to Lake Elsinore.
1. These toxins cause both lakes to be unusable for recreation, meaning no swimming, floating, waterskiing, wake boarding, jet skiing, windsurfing, etc. In other words, no body contact.
2. All aquatic life, such as fish, die from the toxins, meaning there will be no fishing possible. In other words, both lakes will be dead.
3. Possibly millions of tax dollars spent on additional treatment methods
Q. How would this potential disaster affect my property values?
A. Think about it:
· If you live in Lake Elsinore, you live by the largest natural freshwater lake in Southern California. In a recent study, Lake Elsinore was ranked by campers nationally as the 3rd most popular west coast camping location, and the only one of the top three that is in California. It's hard to imagine the lake keeping that popularity rating if it's a dead lake with no body contact allowed and no fishing possible.
· If you live in Canyon Lake, the number one amenity of your property is the lake. Anecdotally, during a recent harmful algae bloom many prospective home buyers were turned off on buying property. Think about it: fewer buyers, less demand, houses stay on the market longer and home values drop.
Q. What are other economic repercussions in this scenario?
A. Easy to see:
· Lake Elsinore - fewer visitors to a diminished amenity, people moving out of the area - local businesses will suffer and many will likely go out of business. Bigger retailers other than those next to the I-15 freeway may close and move to more thriving communities.
· Canyon Lake - a similar downside. Local businesses will suffer due to a declining population and those that serve the local water recreation and fishing community will go out of business.
Q. What can we do about this?
A. Join your sensible neighbors and be part of the solution:
· The best solution is prevention. We're a group of residents and business leaders that recognize that fixing a problem after it happens is expensive, time-consuming and usually "too little too late." The collateral damage are the homeowners and small business owners that get hurt and have to sell in a declining market. The old saying, "It's too late to close the door after the horse is out of the barn" is wisdom from the past. Join us and be part of the positive voices that encourage the developer to find a more environmentally safe place for their cemetery.
· Action steps: Be part of the solution and help stop this. Help us raise awareness of this potential disaster. This is not someone else's problem - it's ours and we all need to own it. We need your skills, talents, and abilities to force the developer to go to a less environmentally vulnerable area.