San Diego Environment Committee Meets on Choyas Creek Park and Storm Response on March 16, 2017
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San Diego Environment Committee Meets on Choyas Creek Park and Storm Response on March 16, 2017
The San Diego City Council's Environment Committee convened on March 16, 2017, with Councilmembers Kate and Sherman present and Councilmember Ward absent. The committee approved two consent items and heard informational updates on the proposed Choyas Creek Regional Park and on Transportation & Stormwater's response to the 2016-17 winter storms.
Consent Calendar
- Items 1 and 2 were approved unanimously by voice vote, with Councilmember Ward absent.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Martha Welch, a member of the public, voiced concerns about what she called duplication between the city's Pure Water program and efforts by the San Diego County Water Authority. She questioned whether the city has meter readers and code enforcement, criticized the city's use of bonds and fund transfers, and alleged that money is being hidden instead of spent on infrastructure such as roads. She urged the city to examine all funds.
Discussion Items
Choyas Creek Regional Park Designation Update
- Vicky Estrada, President of Estrada Land Planning and a Groundwork San Diego board member, presented an update alongside Leslie Reynolds, Executive Director. She explained that Groundwork San Diego grew out of the 2002 Chollas Creek Enhancement Plan and now manages the 32-square-mile watershed with 20 linear miles of creek.
- Estrada described goals including restoring creek health, cleaning stormwater, protecting habitat, connecting communities, and adding recreational trails. She noted that a feasibility study was approved by the Parks and Recreation Board last year and that a watershed opportunities plan has been completed.
- She stated that the next step is funding a regional park master plan, estimated to cost $1 to $1.2 million, with a possible first phase of $300,000 to $500,000 and a second phase of up to $750,000, and that the plan could be completed in about two years.
- She emphasized that regional park designation would inspire stewardship, attract users from outside the watershed, and improve habitat and water quality, while acknowledging challenges from mixed public/private ownership.
- Councilmember Sherman noted that Groundwork already serves as the necessary foundation and expressed support. Councilmember Kate asked about approval of the opportunities plan, funding, and how to get the project into the city's work program. Estrada and Reynolds said city funding has been the main challenge and that they have not yet been approached about incorporating Choyas Creek into the city's parks master plan. Kate said he would bring the item back as an action item later in the year and asked staff to evaluate including it in the work program.
Transportation & Stormwater Update on Winter Storms 2016-17
- Drew Kleiss, Deputy Director, and Gene Matter, Assistant Deputy Director, reported on channel maintenance and storm response. They said the division had over 60 days of storm patrol—about four times the normal average—and that major storms occurred on January 20, February 17, and February 27, with the latter producing 2 to 5 inches of rain over 24 hours and some intensities equivalent to a 25-year storm.
- Over the past two fiscal years, the city cleaned 30 drainage channels. Only nine of those cleaned channels experienced flooding; two channels not maintained last year also flooded. Immediate action was needed in two locations.
- Examples included removing 25 tons of dead tree material at Hollister Street Bridge and removing a seven-ton collapsed cinder block wall near Cartagena Street in Choyas Creek, both with biologist oversight.
- The presenters described flooding in Sorrento Valley/Roselle Street caused by a sediment plug in Los Peñasquitos Lagoon (state park), which exceeds channel capacity. The long-term solution is restoring the lagoon, with phase one planned by fiscal year 2023 and remaining work by 2030.
- Clarissa Falcon, on behalf of Biomed Realty, said businesses in the Roselle Street area suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages per event, including submerged cars and facility damage, and requested near-term investment and attention to the long-term fix.
- Melanie Cohen, Director of Regional Policy at Biocom, stated that the life science industry employs 73,000 people and generates $17.5 billion in annual economic activity. She said Sorrento Valley floods every year, and while clean channels have helped, the city should conduct expedited cleanup after rain events and address the lagoon and channel system.
- Committee members asked about the long-term plan, funding, permitting timelines, channel scoring, telemetry systems, and the status of the Tijuana River channel. They also requested information on resident damage surveys, damage estimates, and whether the state of emergency could expedite further channel work.
Key Outcomes
- The committee took no formal action on the informational items.
- Councilmember Kate said he would bring the Choyas Creek Regional Park item back as an action item later in 2017 and asked staff to determine how to include it in the work program and to provide guidance on potential county participation via a JPA.
- Staff committed to following up on requests for information about resident damage surveys, storm damage estimates, the Alvarado Creek section near Waring Road, and Roselle Street exit route signage.
- The committee was reminded that the channel maintenance prioritization list will return in early fall. The next Environment Committee meeting was scheduled for April 13, 2017.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you very much for being here. I'll call the meeting of March 16th, 2017. Environment committee to order. Council members Kate and Sherman are present. Councilmember Ward will not be joining us today. Unless a committee member has questions, those will be approved by unanimous consent with Councilmember Ward absent. Uh next we will move on to non-agenda public comment. We have one uh member of the public, Martha Welch. You will have two minutes to address on an item not on today's agenda. Good afternoon. Martha Welch. I went to San Diego County Water meeting. Who's sitting there at Pure Water sitting right there? I know the city has uh up there also. And I think you're doing uh I went to GE uh water, I saw the pumps thing up there also. I never see in this c in your papers. I never see that. I don't know why, because it it's uh very present up there and they're very beautiful. The I don't ever see ever I don't see that ever. So I think it's duplication with water and everything that I think that's going on because you're part of San Diego Water Council. I saw the people up there on the on computer also. You have a president up there, about nine people on that board. So why pure water? I'm asking. Now, I've talked to some people who have um double uh mouses and all that stuff saving water, but their water doesn't go down the bill. Do you have meter readers? I don't know. Because I've noticed uh meetings like there's no maintenance and no complaint, um complaint um uh um codes, you don't have them, so maybe you don't have these also. So maybe you don't have meter readers. Now also I go to l all these meetings all over. You have solid waste. I don't care what you say because the county minute on one there are pie charts and you have it also. And I think it's wrong about sewer, all those super things and you move money all the time, all these funds. So I'm still saying you've got to somebody have to go to all these funds and say where if we have money or not, a pay for all self. Because you you all these bonds you have in the city are wrong because you just f finance over, finance it over, and it's not what you're supposed to do with bonds. You're supposed to build something with bonds, not roll over a financial house. So you should go to these funds. You're working some funds today, today also moving money around, and you've got to you've got to say what's going on with all these funds in the city. Because it's not it's not right what you do. Um what you do in this city with with with all this stuff. Because we have a lot of problems with interstruction and we need money for that, we need money for our roads and everything else, and you're hiding money, and if we don't have the money up front, and I also know when I was down in Chula Vista, you don't have underground with wires down there. That is the end of our uh public comment so we will move on to committee members' comment I don't see any oh Mr. Sherman go ahead yeah I just wanted to give everybody a little bit of good news today at our uh Mission Trails Regional Park task force meeting we uh approved unanimously the master plan update for mission trails and if we get here to council and it goes through it'll increase the acreage out there to a little over 10,000 acres. So it'll be a a real nice uh improvement to the park and it's only been going on now for eight years so I think it's about time we get her done. Look forward to seeing it at Council. Well great good news and if that has to come through committee we'll make sure to get it here quickly. If not hopefully to council as soon as possible. Thank you for sharing do we have any mayoral city attorney or IBA comments today okay then we will move on to our agenda we have two items on consent item one and item two I don't see any requests to pull those so Mr Kate moves Mr. Sherman seconds item one and two all in favor?
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