Problems With the Proposed San Miguel Road Drainage Project

Back on August 1st, I wrote an article about the Drainage Improvement Planned for San Miguel Road. Pay attention to the Alternative 3 slide in that article.

A San Miguel Watershed ad hoc committee had been created by the Sweetwater Community Planning Group to work with the County on watershed issues, starting with the runoff on San Miguel Road from the baseball fields and the SR 125 runoff.

Yesterday I published an article about Projects Slated for Bonita. I mentioned that I would write a continuation of that story. So I will pursue that intention.

Let's go back and look at the next to last slide: Priority Projects in Sweetwater-Bonita.

Click on image to enlarge.

The very last item on this slide deals with drainage on San Miguel Road.

• Description of issue: Redesign storm water damage along San Miguel Road consistent with County Drainage Study.

  
  

• Why is this a priority? Poor drainage causes flooding on road and nearby properties.

I had asked the County about where that water would be directed once it is collected.

LeeAnn Crow (P.G. QSD, Project Manager for the County of San Diego, Department of Public Works, Capital Improvement Program) had told me that it was going into a drainage system. I emailed her back and asked if that meant a conduit of some type that would pipe the water into a sewer drain. I never received a response from Ms. Crow.

So when SD County Department of Public Works Program Coordinator, Gabriel Gutierrez & Project Manager, Richard Y. Shin (presenters of the slide show) asked if there were any questions, I jumped on the opportunity to ask again.

Here's how the conversation went according to my recording, beginning at 00:23:25. SH is me (Susan Heavilin) asking questions and RS is Richard Shin answering them.

SH: May I ask a question about the last item up there, the last project, the drainage on San Miguel Road?

RS: Sure.

SH: Is that being dumped into a sewer drain, or is that intended to go into San Miguel Creek?

RS: Going into San Miguel Creek. It's a storm water project.

SH: Okay, we've got a problem there, because the next two houses where they're dumping it can't get out of their driveways when it rains.

RS: We don't know where we're going to put the water yet. We're doing a preliminary engineering report to determine where the drainage is going to go.

SH: But if it goes into San Miguel Creek, that's their property. I sent pictures to Leanne, and I have pictures on my phone I can show you of how they flood. If you put more water in... I was hoping it went down a storm drain and went somewhere.

RS: It all goes into San Miguel Creek, no matter what.

SH: It's not supposed to according to your drainage laws.*** It's not supposed to go by pipe . . .

RS: I don't know what the sub areas are but that's what the drainage study is going to tell us.

SH: Okay, that's going to be a problem with those residents. Just so you know, future law suits . . .

RS: I'll make a special note (laughs). I appreciate your candor.

If the County dumps the water into the San Miguel Creek, by ostensibly solving one group of residents' problem they are creating a NEW problem for the residents living on San Miguel Road, west of Loma Del Sol.

Whenever I bring this concern to the attention of the County, they don't seem to care. They just want to solve their immediate problem and kick the can down the road.

Read Drainage Improvement Planned for San Miguel Road to view the proposed disposal of the baseball field flood waters.

***The Drainage Law I referred to in my conversation with Mr. Shin is from the Drainage Criteria Manual (Volume 1), published June 2001, Section 2.2.3 Municipal Liability on page DL-10. It reads:

Two lawsuits were mentioned in the same Drainage Criteria Manual on page DL-8:

The plaintiffs' won both of these lawsuits, creating a precedent where judges' decisions in prior cases guide future rulings. The precedent established in the cases above ensures that these Bonita residents (residing on San Miguel Road, west of Loma Del Sol) would automatically win their case.

Click images to enlarge.

Pictured above are the driveways of the homes at 5624, 5626, 5628 and 5630 San Miguel Road. These photos were taken at the time of the big rainstorm back in January of 2024. That was probably the last time we had any measurable rain.

The County adding more water to a normally dry creek bed will cause these residents to become land-locked any time it rains. Their only egress is being flooded with additional water redirected from another problem area. The County needs to take responsibility and address this issue in their drainage study.

If the County would add monies to their project to build these residents elevated concrete bridges—at no cost to the homeowners—that would solve the problem created.

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