Can Memorial Beach be saved?

Adrian Carrillo, 12, and his cousin, Jose Cardiel, 10, had a friendly waterfight going on Thursday afternoon at Healdsburg Veterans Memorial Beach.

"It's a fun place to spend the afternoon," Adrian said.

But unless county officials can come up with $125,000, the popular Russian River swimming spot won't fill with water next summer.

That's how much it would cost to repair, erect and in September take down the 58-year-old temporary dam at the county-operated beach just below the Healdsburg Avenue bridge — and none of it is in the county's deficit-battered budget.

Government agencies "have been cutting everywhere — schools, parks, medical services," said Filiberto Carrillo of Windsor, Adrian's father. "It's kind of sad."

The park would remain open next year, officials said, but without a large, green lagoon it would lack a feature prized by generations of swimmers and picnickers.

"That's not cool," said Tamera Hansom of Windsor, enjoying the beach's first full summer day of operation Thursday with her husband and two kids. Hansom, holding son Greyson, 1, at water's edge, said she's been coming to the beach since her own childhood.

Mary Burns, the county regional parks director, knows the value of the park that draws 40,000 visitors while the summer dam is in place.

"People love it," Burns said. "They've been going to it for years and years."

Mike McGuire, who will leave the Healdsburg City Council for his new position as a member of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, said he has dived into the effort to secure funding for the dam.

County and Healdsburg city officials and a representative of Assemblyman Wes Chesbro, D-Arcata, met this week to discuss the options and will reconvene within 30 days, he said.

"It's not summer without Memorial Beach," said McGuire, a third-generation Healdsburg resident.

McGuire, elected Fourth District supervisor last month, is resigning from the Healdsburg City Council next week and will take his county post in January.

Funding for the summer dam is his first challenge as a supervisor, McGuire said.

"We're starting early and meeting often," he said.

Healdsburg has a stake in the summer dam because the lagoon helps replenish one of the city's well-fields, McGuire said.

But neither McGuire nor Burns could say where the $125,000 would be found.

"We're trying to be as creative as we can," Burns said, acknowledging that the county's general fund — slashed by $27 million is unlikely to provide help.

Operating the summer dam costs $75,000, and state officials are requiring continued repairs to the dam's base that will cost about $50,000. The county has already spent nearly $100,000 on repairs, Burns said.

Tamera Hansom said the beach is a luxury for a stay-at-home mother, just seven minutes from her house.

It's cheap, too, with just a fee for parking, Filiberto Carrillo said. "Six bucks for the whole day."