County Leaves Residents up the Creek without a Paddle

Residents on the south side of San Miguel Road, from Olive Avenue to Loma Del Sol Drive (Conduit Road) received a letter from the County of San Diego Department of Public Works (DPW). It was about a watercourse meeting on October 23, 2024. Resources included Richard Whipple, Land Development District Deputy Director; Tom Duffy, Environment Services Unit Manager; Sara Agahi, Flood Control Manager; and Jamie Milani, Watershed Protection Manager. Approximately twenty residents were present.

Many residents whispered to each other right after it began that it was a waste of time after being shown a PowerPoint presentation that could just as easily been sent with the meeting notice. A few people left in the first half hour. The acoustics were really poor and a microphone was not used.

In response to a question about how long the watercourse enforcement had been in operation, the presenters just looked at each other and no answer was offered. Again when asked how many enforcements had been served, another blank look and no reply.

The San Miguel Creek, as they were addressing it, runs parallel to San Miguel Road and varies from 13 feet deep to a mere 12 inches deep at one property line. From that property line west, the creek is pretty much non-existent. The SR-125, upon completion, immediately started dumping runoff into this residential creek as did the homes built on San Miguel Ranch Road. Along with seasonal rainfall, this amounts to a substantial amount of water rushing down this watercourse and flooding the Proctor Valley "bridge" and properties to the west of it. No provisions have been made to accomodate the residents as they watch their land erode away.

Adding insult to injury, residents generally are not allowed to touch the riverbed and can only use hand tools to maintain it. As years of silt have filled in the watercourse, it has become flat in many areas and a potential danger if an event such as the recent flooding in Asheville, North Carolina were ever to take place. The Tieber Trail is four to six feet of silt or quicksand at the riverbed crossing. An equestrian that tries to utilize that trail will either break their horse's legs when they sink or have to pay to have the poor horse hoisted out by crane. I wonder if that lawsuit will fall on the County or on Judy & Tony Tieber personally.

It would be impossible for residents to hand dig the riverbed with shovels to the depth of four to six feet as it should be. According to the presenters, an "ordinance" from 1982 states that it is the residents' responsibility. What makes the most sense is for the County to access the riverbed from the Jonel Way side of the San Diego County Water Authority property that runs from San Miguel Road to Jonel Way. Once in the riverbed, an excavator could be used to dig out the four to six foot trench from Proctor Valley east to the 13' deep riverbed property and then do the same thing west of Proctor Valley. This idea was met with a firm "No".

This is ludicrous. The residents do not have the physical strength or ability to tackle such a feat. When the impossibility of this was mentioned, the County responded that the residents could use machinery but they must first get a permit and take direction from the County. It was asked if the permit fees would be waived and the answer again was "No." The County permit is not the only one required. You also need one from the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the Regional Water Quality Control Board and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Therefore, residents would be burdened with four permit payments and machinery costs . . . it's not going to happen.

So the residents who attended this meeting—with the hope of getting some help—were brutally let down. The County wants the residents to take the brunt of responsibility for the watercourse and take on an impossible endeavor. One might believe that after this year's flood involving the Chollas River and the lawsuit that followed, that the County would be paying more attention to this matter.

"THE FLOODS WERE A PLANNING DISASTER,

NOT JUST A NATURAL DISASTER"

—Singleton Schreiber Injury Attorneys representing 700 Chollas River victims

At present, the County is working on a study for another project to collect the floodwater on San Miguel Road in storm drains and channel all that water into the San Miguel Creek. At this time with the creek in its present condition, additional water would be a disaster . . . literally.

In closing, it was mentioned that the County may want to take on the responsibility and costs of dredging the watercourse. Or they could just wait for the flood to come and destroy all the homes and pay for all those lawsuits. Another blank stare. And then the residents walked out.

Return to Main Page