SAN DIEGO, Calif. — A bird’s eye view above Chollas Creek shows the flood channel filled with trees, weeds and trash.
And now the creek has vehicles that floated away during the historic torrential downpour that his San Diego Monday are in the creek.
Residents have complained for years about debris in the flood channel.
"I have told the city officials, I have all the documentation, telling them that they need to address the problem with the storm drain in Chollas Creek,” said Southcrest resident Greg Montoya, who sued the city in 2019 over drainage issues in his neighborhood.
Montoya got a payout from the city, but he said flooding continues to be a problem.
"I can't believe that they kept ignoring the problem, knowing that this was going to happen again. They absolutely knew it would happen again."
The city’s stormwater director said it could be a years-long process for his staff to get environmental permits to clean out vegetation from flood channels.
"The environmental agencies require us when we remove vegetation from our channels we have to mitigate or purchase land or put that native vegetation back somewhere off-site,” said Todd Snyder, explaining the costly process that’s filled with red tape.
Snyder said the city has about 200 flood channels but only enough funding to pay for major maintenance on about four a year.
On Friday, city excavators were out on Chollas Creek in Southcrest, clearing downed trees and other vegetation from the flood channel.
Snyder said that now that San Diego is in an emergency, environmental permitting isn’t required for crews to start clearing the vegetation. He said the goal is to clean out as much as possible before more rain comes next week.
Attorney Evan W. Walker represented Montoya and has done flood litigation since Hurricane Katrina.
“Something needs to be done to hold the city accountable for this recent flooding.”
Walker said he expects lawsuits to be filed from renters and homeowners who live near Chollas Creek.
He said he’s talked to residents who have nowhere to sleep while others don’t have any food because floodwaters destroyed their kitchens.
“You really have suffering people. It’s not that everyone is stepping up and filing a lawsuit and saying I want a million dollars. That’s not the case at all.”
