SCOTTS VALLEY>> After being denied a pump in Scotts Creek, the Scotts Valley community is looking for other options to prevent flooding during this upcoming winter.
District 4 Supervisor Tina Scott, who holds jurisdiction over most of the Scotts Valley area, said the Lake County Water Resources did not feel completely certain about the viability of a pump. She added that they did look at other options as research is done on the idea.
“It was interesting to actually walk into the creek bed and seeing it. We first stopped in the ditches area and did see evidence that the water pushes back. There were sand and gravel and there was no other reason that the gravel would be there in the first six feet of the ditch,” Scott said.
The backup caused road flooding this past winter from the heavy rainfall. With expectations of an equal amount of rain this winter, Scott said taking the 45 foot pipe that is between the two and extending it would help pull water through, rather than having it drawn back.
“Maybe if we extended that pipe by 8 to 10 feet so it wouldn’t be sucking in, it would be a sucking out motion. This is something they can possibly accomplish before the coming winter,” Scott said.
There could also be debris in the pipe that restricts the water flow and cause drainage issues when it does get full. Scott said this is something that would be looked into and fixed if there was an issue.
Another option is to clear out the creek area and get a crew of county workers to get in and remove debris to help prevent clogging or dams made from buildup. Scott said the Water Resources department is currently working on another project and it is unknown how long it will take and it might not happen before this coming winter.
To get the county staff to go in and clean the creek, they will also need to get Rights of Entry permits from the property owners. To avoid having to go through this process and wait on the county, Scott said the community put a team together to clean up the creek with permission from their neighbors.
“We can go in and do a debris clean up on our own as long as we’re not cutting anything from the sides, we are just taking stuff that is not attached,” Scott said.
The Scotts Valley community did get a crew of 10 people to do a cleanup along three properties and get debris removed on Sunday morning. This was the first of many potential cleanups.
The crew went along the creek and pulled all detached wood from around the creek.
This is the first of many cleanups to occur as it will take a few days before the entire creek is mostly cleared. The Scotts Valley Advisory Council and community members will be looking to pick a day to continue their efforts to prevent flooding and ensure safety this winter.
