Focus turns to drainage areas, flood prevention
With an El Niño predicted for this year and fears of future flooding, many residents are looking at the drainage ditches that overflowed in their neighborhoods and want to know who is responsible for clearing out them out.
They point to ditches with overgrown vegetation, decaying foliage and rubbish that they say prevent water from flowing through the channels.
Latest figures from the county show that 288 people from 271 homes/businesses in Ramona reported flood damage from the July 18 and 19 rainstorms that dropped 4 inches of rain on the community.
Supervisor Dianne Jacob was scheduled to host a meeting in her El Cajon office Tuesday with representatives from the San Diego Country Estates Association and staff from various county departments about post-storm runoff/flooding issues.
“We’ve always had a problem with overgrowth,” Karen Clendenen said of the drainage ditch that runs next to her property on Arena Drive in the Estates. “All up and down the creek, there are large trees growing up the middle.”
Clendenen, who has owned the property for 18 years and rents it, said if she had not built a retaining wall on the property, flooding would have been much worse than it was. She estimates about $3,500 worth in landscape repairs.
Over the years, Clendenen said, she and neighbors have tried to find out who is responsible for clearing the drainage creek where Mexican palms grow and there are dead trees, tree stumps and rubbish
Clendenen said she can’t get answers. She said she took pictures of the ditch and showed them to a county engineer at the Local Assistance Center, temporarily set up at the Ramona Library after the flooding, but no one had answers.
Mario Trejo, general manager for the Estates homeowners association, said he wants answers, too. The association is going to hire a civil engineer who specializes in flood control, Trejo said.
“Then we’re going to do an audit of all these areas in question,” he said.
The process will take two to three months, he added.
Trejo praised the county for its work following the flooding.
“They’re really going out of their way to work with us side by side,” he said.
According to the county, its maintenance crews inspected the Arena Drive ditch and found the county right-of-way clean and clear. That site is inspected and cleaned annually, said a county spokesperson.
The existing debris and vegetation is in the homeowners association’s responsibility area, county staff stated in an email.
Trejo said there could be environmental issues related to cleaning out the drainage creeks, and that’s why he wants a comprehensive plan. Permitting is often required by environmental agencies to clean out water courses, and work cannot be accomplished during nesting seasons.
“It’s frustrating because it’s going to happen again,” Clendenen said of the flooding. She added that the vegetation and trash draws mice and rats.
The ditch by Arena Drive was not the only one residents complained about. A resident whose house was flooded near Ashley Road, pointed to a tree that’s growing in the drainage ditch there.
An 87-year-old resident in the 600 block of Steffy Road was concerned about the natural drainage ditch on her property that she said caught items from neighboring properties, and overflowed. The force of the water was so strong, it took out some of her concrete fence posts.
Anna Burkhard said she knows that the water course cannot be re-directed but wants to find out what she can and can’t do to prevent future flooding.
Some portions of drainage channels are the responsibility of the county to maintain and some are the responsibility of the private property owner, noted county staff.
County Public Information Officer Gig Conaughton said county facilities are covered under a blanket regional environmental permit for ongoing maintenance, and crews remove vegetation and perform maintenance on a regular basis.
The Santa Maria Creek bed has also been a concern for many because of its heavy vegetation and now Iron Mountain Conservancy is trying to see what it can do to clear out the creek.
Resident and conservancy member Kit Kesinger told the Ramona Community Planning Group Aug. 6 that the conservancy is trying to work with U.S. Fish and Wildlife and willing property owners to remove such invasive plants as arundo, tamarisk and Indian tobacco. The need is more urgent considering the recent flooding and forecasts of an El Niño, he said, receiving the planning group’s support in the project.
County to remove Olive Street flood debris bin, extends availability for Gunn Stage Road dumpster
The last day the county will offer a dumpster on Olive Street in downtown Ramona for residents’ flood debris is Aug. 23. The county has extended the date for the dumpster at the dead end of Gunn Stage Road in San Diego Country Estates until Aug. 30.
Hours for the dumpsters are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. The Olive Street location is east of the Maple Street intersection.
The county decided this week to remove its flood debris bin at the dead end of San Vicente Road in the Estates.
At the dumpster sites non-hazardous construction, demolition and household materials, as well as loose soil, rocks, silt and mud are accepted.
The dumpsters cannot take household hazardous waste, appliances or electronics. The county’s Household Hazardous Waste Facility at 324 Maple St. will be open on Saturdays, Aug. 29 and Sept. 12 and 26, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information on how or where to recycle or dispose of unwanted items, call 877-713-2784 or visit www.wastefreesd.org.
Free sand, gravel and bags will continue to be offered 24 hours a day at the dead end of Gunn Stage Road until the supply is depleted. The sand and gravel can be shoveled into the provided bags and used for erosion control.