KSBY

Posted: Feb 8, 2010 5:13 PM
Updated: Feb 9, 2010 8:07 AM

There is the potential for a flooding disaster around the Arroyo Grande creek, if there is a lot of rain and the levee breaks. That's according to a spokesman for the San Luis Obispo County public works division. Nearby residents are concerned about that happening. They want more to be done but the county says it has its hands tied.

We saw the flooding back in 2001, a home was left flooded, vehicles stranded and some 50 residents trapped at an RV park because of the high water.

 Marjorie Ezell, concerned about flooding, said, "It's frightening because we're all so close here to the creek and these are our only homes."

During 2001 flooding, the south side of the levee broke. It also flooded farmland in the area. Leona Heller, also concerned about flooding, said, "I'm asking why after all this time, after 30 something years that they have not dealt with this thing. Why haven't they found a solution yet?"

Dean Benedix is with the San Luis Obispo County public works division. He said, "Right now, we're doing everything that we can." He said during the series of storms in January there was no threat. He also said they were monitoring the situation closely. Benedix said, "We can't go in there and do anything more even if we had the money. We can't go in there because we don't have the permits to do anything more." The county does thin out vegetation but can't completely remove it. As a result, it blocks the flow and adds more debris in the channel. Benedix said, "The vegetation cover, the shade that the vegetation provides is for the endangered species for the steelhead. We have a long term plan but that's going to require some money."

Speaking of money, residents say that's another issue. Heller said, "It seems to me that the solution was oh well, let those old people pay for it. They're too tired and too old to fight it." Ezell said, "We don't appreciate being picked as the people to pay for it."

The county said back in 1987, people paid around $5 an acre. In 2006, an additional assessment was approved by voters but it's a complicated formula. It takes into consideration numerous factors including the land value and whether it's a high risk area. However, it was a substantial increase. On average, a single family home pays $390 for the additional assessment.

The county said it will be applying for new permits, so they can hopefully remove that vegetation. But if a single storm event dropped three to four inches of rain in one day, there is the concern of major damage. Benedix said, "If you look at how many parcels are paying $5 an acre or were at that time, the amount of money we collected was absolutely ridiculous compared to the liability and amount of work that had to be done."

Heller said, "I would like to see that it is equitably and evenly distributed between all the people in the whole water shed area. If everybody paid a little bit, it would not be just incumbent on those of us who are elderly and probably the least able to afford it."

Either way, it seems all agree, something needs to be done to prevent the worst from happening. The county also said it has an emergency response plan in place. Notices were sent out to residents of that evacuation plan and they have conducted exercises in the event flooding occurs.