Flooding that took place in Morro Bay back in 2022 and 2023 caused severe damage.
“My first day on the job as mayor, I had to declare a state of emergency because of the floods,” said Carla Wixom, Morro Bay Mayor.
Wixom told KSBY News that for two years in a row, the city sustained damage to infrastructure, mobile home parks by the creeks, and roadways.
Through FEMA grants of $1.3 million, the city and county contracted with Stillwater Sciences to assess the watershed and put together a model to predict how different levels of precipitation could affect it.
“We’re going to start to run different alternatives through the model and check to see what would happen if there was a larger bridge on Main Street or what would happen if there was vegetation or sediment removed from the channel and see different alternatives,” said Ethan Bell, Stillwater Sciences Vice President.
Bell said that potential projects to protect the area could include adding flood walls at the city’s reverse osmosis facility, widening Morro Creek, or reconnecting the historical floodplain to the main channel.
“Moving forward, we’re going to be developing and integrating that model through June and into July, and then we’re going to start to evaluate alternatives, so we’re going to have a series of public meetings,” Bell said.
Residents will have an opportunity to give their input.
“And to weigh in on options, opportunities, and what the county and city will be doing along with our partners to work on resiliency on that area, things that homeowners can do to protect their property,” Wixom said.
Wixom added that funding for the actual work will come later, once it’s identified what those projects will look like.
The community meeting is June 3 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Veterans Hall in Morro Bay.
