San Diego, CA
Will disastrous flooding force San Diego to finally fix its storm drains?
Hundreds of San Diegans are assessing the damage caused by Monday’s flash floods, which washed away cars, caused a sinkhole in Miramar and blanketed homes and streets in Southcrest with mud and debris.
The intense rainfall in the span of just a few hours laid bare the longstanding inadequacies of San Diego’s stormwater infrastructure. And it provided a glimpse into the future, when climate change is likely to hit low-income communities of color the hardest.
For decades, politicians and bureaucrats have swept the stormwater problem under the rug. Major storms are still relatively rare, and surface-level infrastructure needs like potholes tend to draw the most attention from constituents.
The result is a staggering $1.6 billion in unfunded needs for the stormwater system. That deficit has more than doubled in the past five years. It’s now larger than the unfunded needs of the city’s roads, sidewalks and streetlights combined.
But as San Diego tries to prepare itself for more extreme and unpredictable weather, the recent floods could force the city to finally make long-term fixes to its network of stormwater channels a top priority.
What are stormwater channels?
A stormwater channel is a fancy urban planning term for a river or stream. Some are lined in concrete while others are more natural looking and full of vegetation. They can be exposed to daylight or run underground in tunnels.
Many of San Diego’s underground channels were built more than 50 years ago and have reached the end of their useful life. The city’s Stormwater Department is trying to replace or repair them proactively and does regular inspections to see which ones have the most urgent needs.
But the stormwater system is so vast that officials don’t always know which parts are the closest to collapse. The Stormwater Department also doesn’t have enough staff or funding to inspect and fix all the channels in a timely manner.
That means often, underground channels fall apart unexpectedly and the city has to do emergency repairs — like they’re currently doing on Miramar Road. Those are more expensive, and they require diverting resources from proactive repair projects, which have to wait longer to get funding. This is why the backlog of repairs has gotten so much worse in recent years.
Why are stormwater channels so hard to fix?
Repairing underground stormwater channels requires digging with heavy machinery — and doing so carefully to avoid damaging water, sewer and electrical infrastructure. These projects require a high level of skill and expertise, so the city has to offer competitive wages to recruit the laborers and engineers who can get the job done safely.
The channels that are exposed to daylight are difficult to maintain for different reasons. These are often naturally occurring creeks and streams and provide habitat for native species. If the city wants to clear them out so water can flow through more quickly, it needs permits from outside agencies, such as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Army Corps of Engineers.
Securing those permits takes years. Sometimes permits require the city to purchase land elsewhere and relocate the vegetation they remove from the channel to ensure there is no net loss of native habitat.
Tom Snyder, director of the city’s Stormwater Department, told reporters in a press conference on Tuesday that San Diego has about 200 segments of flood control channels and the resources to do maintenance on about four of them each year.
“We prioritize those channels and maintain the ones that we can,” Snyder said. “But a lot of things have to align in order for that to happen.”
Why doesn’t the city spend more on stormwater infrastructure?
San Diego could increase funding for stormwater channel maintenance — but doing so would require taking money away from other infrastructure needs like parks, libraries, fire stations, homeless shelters or road repair. The decision on where and how to spend infrastructure dollars is part of the city’s annual budgeting process and involves negotiations between the mayor and City Council.
A report in 2018 from the Office of the City Auditor recommended the city explore ways to increase funding for stormwater infrastructure through a new tax or fee. In 2022, the Stormwater Department finalized its response to the audit, floating a tax of 4 to 5 cents per square foot of impermeable surface on a property. That would scale the tax to the amount of stormwater that runs off a property, while exempting areas where the water can be absorbed into the earth. The tax would cost the typical single-family home in San Diego between $128 and $160 per year.
The city commissioned a poll and found a majority of voters would approve such a tax. But these kinds of taxes require a two-thirds majority in California, and the poll found support was teetering on that threshold.
In 2022 the city received a sizable loan from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to fund stormwater infrastructure repairs. The loan could infuse the Stormwater Department with up to $359.2 million in new money.
But even with that extra funding, the city’s stormwater needs still dwarf the available resources. An infrastructure planning report this month found total stormwater needs over the next five years are at least $2.2 billion, and that it expects to take in only about $572 million in revenue. That leaves a funding gap of $1.6 billion, making stormwater the largest unfunded need in the whole city.
San Diego County opened its eighth crisis stabilization unit in El Cajon on Monday, providing the same short-term resource for East County residents that has helped relieve pressure on hospital emergency departments in communities to the north and south.
The newest facility replaces a former county assessor’s satellite office at South Magnolia and West Douglas avenues, near the city’s community center and library.
The El Cajon $28 million crisis unit has 12 recliners and a freshly renovated space for private consultation, accommodating residents in need of immediate mental health services for up to 24 hours.
Pioneered in a handful of local hospitals, the county began opening stand-alone crisis units in Vista and Oceanside in 2021 and 2022. The pair of locations were a direct response to Tri-City Medical Center closing its behavioral health unit and crisis center in 2018, citing the need for prohibitively expensive repairs and difficulties with staffing.
Another unit attached in Chula Vista, attached to Bayview Hospital, a behavioral health facility, opened in 2023 with an additional unit attached to the emergency department at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center in March.
Nadia Privara-Brahms, the county’s behavioral health director, said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday morning that the heavy investment in crisis centers has drastically reduced mental health care visits to local emergency departments. County data for the 2024-25 budget year estimates that 11,000 adults treated at crisis stabilization units were diverted from inpatient care and 14%, approximately 1,800, were connected to inpatient care.
“Countywide, we have seen that this model of care is working,” Privara-Brahms said. “Across the CSUs locally, we saw 85% of admissions diverted from inpatient care.”
County Supervisor Joel Anderson, whose district includes most of East County, kept the pressure on for a center to the east capable of delivering the same kind of results.
“Right now, many of these folks end up in our emergency rooms, and they’re getting great service at the highest cost,” Anderson said.
Emergency departments, he added, can only do so much to focus on providing mental health care when they must also treat the full range of other medical needs from heart attacks and strokes to broken bones and chronic disease.
“Here, we’re laser-focused on that mental health, and we’ll be able to turn people around, stabilize them, and send them home,” Anderson said.
A key innovation with stand-alone crisis units has been the ability of law enforcement officers and crisis response team members to deliver residents picked up on 5150 holds for evaluation, skipping emergency departments when a patient needs mental health care, but not other services. A 5150 hold occurs when a first responder suspects that a person may be a danger to themselves or others or gravely disabled.
Because all emergency departments must operate on a triage basis, continuously moving the most-critical cases to the front of the line regardless of how long those with less-immediate medical problems have been waiting, 5150 holds are notorious for their ability to take first responders off their beats for hours per incident.
The county’s data tracking system indicates that drop-offs at crisis units take 20 to 25 minutes, contributing significantly to getting law enforcement officers and crisis team members back in service much more quickly than was previously the case.
When we think of May, we think of Mother’s Day, blooming flowers, sunny skies, and lots of fun, seasonal events in the city. This month, locals can dine on the creations of James Beard Award-Winning Chefs at Rancho Bernardo Inn, or take advantage of berry season at the annual Vista Strawberry Festival. Theatre lovers can enjoy a showing of Kim’s Convenience at The Old Globe, while the San Diego Natural History Museum invites art enthusiasts to view its latest marine-themed exhibit. Grab your tickets and crack open that planner. Here are all the best things to do in San Diego this month:
Concerts & Festivals | Theater & Art Exhibits | More Fun Things to Do
Concerts & Festivals in San Diego This Month
29
Louisiana legend Juvenile, enhances by the live instrumentation of The 400 Degreez Band, will perform career hits and his newest album, Boiling Point, at House of Blues San Diego.
Theater & Art Exhibits in San Diego This Month
5/5–6/1
Turning the spotlight on contemporary LGBTQ artists, the inaugural ArtSpectrum 2026 will showcase both the grand and intimate scale of contemporary painters, photographers, and mixed media artists at Village Arts Outreach in Balboa Park.
12–24
The only ordinary element of the San Diego International Fringe Festival is the constant thrill of the extraordinary. Discover a plethora of innovative performances at venues from Pacific Beach to Baja.
5/15–6/14
A Korean-Canadian family balances tradition and assimilation from their Toronto storefront in Ins Choi’s comforting satire Kim’s Convenience, making its local premier at The Old Globe.
5/22–2/2027
Ocean debris will receive a new beginning at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Using repurposed pollution, Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea depicts creatively sculpted marine life.
More Fun Things to Do in San Diego This Month
4/30–5/3
Enjoy fine dining at its finest from a lineup of gastronomic titans during 54 Hours with James Beard Award-Winning Chefs. Savor elegant meals, masterclasses, tastings, and more at Rancho Bernardo Inn.
2
Unlimited bites, regional craft beers, and animal observations are on the menu for San Diego Zoo Food, Wine & Brew (with live music), a culinary evening in support of the San Diego Wildlife Alliance.
7
Spend An Evening with David Sedaris, humorist, essayist, and best-selling author. Never afraid to point the pen at himself, Sedaris will share old favorites and works in progress in the classic satirical style he’s known for at Jacobs Music Center.
15–17
Say cheese! And toast to the Cheese & Libation Expo. Explore three days of all-you-can eat and drink fare at BRICK, along with boutique shopping and bountiful pairings.
PARTNER CONTENT
10 Years In, Puffer and Malarkey Are Just Getting Started
Elevating an Icon: Inside the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Clu…
16
Stroll the private grounds of several luxurious homes, accompanied by live music, tabletop designs, and outdoor artistry, during the Secret Garden Tour, La Jolla Historical Society‘s flora and fauna fundraiser.
24
Vista recalls its days as a strawberry-producing superpower through its free Strawberry Festival. Wear your berry best fit, watch film screenings, and enter contests for shortcake, pie, and sundae indulging.
San Diego, CA
City considering cutting funding to resource center for those experiencing homelessness
Last week Mayor Todd Gloria released the budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal budget. Protected homeless services is among his top priorities mentioned in the proposal. However, some of the reductions he’s proposing could impact thousands of San Diegans experiencing homelessness.
Located on 17th and K Street, the Neil Good Day Center offers an array of services to nearly seven thousand people experiencing homelessness. The services include giving them a place to shower and do laundry, and connecting them to a case manager, among others.
“These are critical services that are helping people off the streets, but really better their lives and their health and their employment situation as well,” Deacon Vargas with Father Joe’s Villages said.
Deacon Jim Vargas heads Father Joe’s Villages, which runs the center. He said through their prevention and diversion strategies, they’ve managed to keep nearly one thousand individuals from falling into homelessness.
“So by helping them pay rent, or helping them with their utilities, or helping them to reunite with family,” Vargas said.
Right now, the city allocates at least $850,000 per year to the Neil Good Day Center, according to Vargas.
But the future and funding for these services are in limbo because of Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed budget cuts.
“The impact to those whom we’ve been serving the Daily Center would be very severe,” Deacon Vargas said.
In a statement to NBC 7, Mayor Todd Gloria said in part, “We must find more efficient and cost-effective ways to address this crisis and prioritize funding for programs that provide shelter beds and maximize resources to programs that place people into permanent housing.”
Since it’s still at a proposal stage, Deacon Vargas said it’s unclear how the city will decide to move forward.
However, Deacon Vargas said services would be significantly reduced because they would be forced to operate solely on a budget of about half a million dollars they receive from philanthropy.
“The hours would be cut. Some days would be cut. We would have showers that might be impacted because they’re given seven days a week and we’d close two days a week, then the showers would be five days a week, the case management,” Deacon Vargas said.
Deacon Vargas is certain of one thing.
He would like to continue offering services at the Day Center, even if the city goes through with the funding cuts.
“As we work with individuals at the Day Center and at Father Joe’s Villages, the community becomes healthier as a result of it,” Deacon Vargas said.
The budget also recommends additional cuts to homeless services, but does not give specifics as to where those cuts would be.
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