Officials question need for $31M drainage system

By: ADAM KAYE - Staff Writer | Saturday, January 8, 2005 9:32 PM PST ∞

ENCINITAS ---- Some city officials this week questioned the need for a proposed multimillion-dollar drainage system in Leucadia amid reports that flood-control efforts there appear to be working.

The City Council agreed in November that persistent flooding along North Coast Highway 101 and nearby streets deserves what a consultant has called the "ultimate solution" ---- a storm-drain system costing more than $30 million, served by pipes 5 and 9 feet in diameter that would empty into Batiquitos Lagoon.

Since then, Encinitas has received record rainfall, but city officials and activists from Leucadia say homes and businesses have remained dry.

The topic of Leucadia flooding took center stage at a City Council goal-setting workshop Wednesday.

"There may be something other than a $31 million investment we can do there," said Councilman James Bond.

Bond made his statement after members of the Leucadia 101 MainStreet Association congratulated the city for its response to the rains.

That response began more than a year ago.

The city invested nearly $4 million in 2001 for drainage improvements designed to evacuate storm water that in the past would have sat in puddles for weeks after rains.

Flooding persisted after those improvements, though, and some property owners blamed the system for increasing inundations in certain areas.

For the past two years, the city has modified the drains.

City crews installed doughnut-shaped "orifice plates" to restrict flows from a web of feeder lines into a 24-inch main line buried alongside the railroad tracks.

Workers dug trenches and swales along the railroad to store storm water.

Along low-lying North Coast Highway 101, at Phoebe Street, recently installed pumps work to keep traffic lanes, stores and restaurants dry.

Responses from the city's Fire and Public Works departments have become routine during rainstorms, a firefighter said Friday as he rolled out 6-inch hose to affix to a pump.

Two powerful pumps have taken winter residence at Leucadia Roadside Park and the alley just west of the Coast Highway. The park doubles as a sump, and a pump that moves 1,500 gallons per minute collects water from the soggy park and directs it through a hose up and over the bluff at Beacon's Beach.

As recently as 2000, the park and alley would collect up to a foot of water, enough for nearby residents to launch canoes.

The Leucadia association's president, Morgan Mallory, had been a most-vocal critic of the drainage system. Last week, however, he told council members that no businesses had reported flooding during the recent months of heavy rains.

He credited fire Chief Don Heiser for launching a "Herculean effort" to prevent property damage.

"Don's crews have not been sleeping so Leucadia's business owners can sleep," Mallory said.

The proposed drainage system might not be necessary, Mallory said before the meeting.

"I have a feeling we may not have to go through with the full, $31 million fix from what we're learning now," Mallory said.

When rainfall is predicted at 1.5 to 2 inches, the Fire Department calls in six additional firefighters to operate pumps, fill sandbags and perform other flood-control duties, Heiser said.

He said firefighters remain available to respond to other emergencies if so needed.

Working alongside firefighters are employees from the Public Works Department, who operate a truck that pumps storm water from the roadsides, culverts and elsewhere.

In any kind of weather, the department keeps three workers on call for emergencies, director Phil Cotton said. When heavy rains are predicted, those employees report to work.

Cotton estimated the department has spent about $12,000 this rainy season to pay the overtime hours needed to combat flooding.

"That's a lot less than $31 million," Bond said.

The proposed drainage system would be one of the most expensive public projects in Encinitas' history, officials have said.

The work could be done at the same time as the proposed reconfiguration of the Leucadia Boulevard intersection at the Coast Highway, a bicycle path along the railroad, and pedestrian crossings either above or below the tracks. Combining the projects could save money, Councilman Jerome Stocks said.

"It may be possible to work the drainage system into those other projects," he said. "It would be foolish not to plan for an optimal (flooding) solution."

Contact staff writer Adam Kaye at (760) 943-2312 or akaye@nctimes.com.

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