Summer is approaching, temperatures are climbing, and rain is the last thing on people’s minds. Many people think that it will not rain until next fall; and they may be right, but preparedness is always the best practice, because inevitably, it will rain. For those of us that have lived in the desert awhile, we know that the summer monsoons tend to be significant, as a verse in a popular song resounds, “it never rains…. but when it rains, it pours.”
In our rain event preparedness efforts, yes even in these sunny days, the Public Works Department Staff continually performs routine maintenance on our City’s storm drain system and inlets into the major storm channels. This typically involves making sure drain inlets are clear, removing trash from drain inlet baskets, pumping portions of the system that may accumulate sludge, and removing plants that seem to find a home in these damp environments.
In addition to these normal maintenance efforts, the Public Works Department is always looking to stay ahead of Mother Nature. We check the weather forecast daily. If there is no rain forecasted, we continue with our normal schedules of City infrastructure maintenance. If there is rain in the forecast though, then our Public Works crews’ priorities change. Other departments, e.g. Engineering, Facilities, Police and Fire, are notified as well. These departments know where the trouble spots are and take the necessary steps to prepare our facilities to take the forecasted deluge. If the rain event is minor, no worries as the desert can always use more water. If the event is major, the City is able to react to these variable events.
Why the discussion on rain preparedness? Well, do we all remember the rains of February 14, 2019 -Valentine’s Day Flood? We lost roadways, had severe traffic jams and, overall, had to deal with a lot of water. We know everyone is busy, and rain is the last thing people are thinking about, especially with the warm days of summer on the way. We encourage you, our residents, to be proactive, be prepared and make sure the drainage within and from your properties is working as it should. The Valentine’s Day Flood was a good indicator of how your property drains rain water. If you had challenges during that event, you will have challenges on the next event. We encourage our residents to be proactive and make the fixes that will pass the water through and off the property as it was originally designed to do.
For residents that live in gated communities with private streets, storm drain systems and retention basins, we encourage you to discuss with your HOA and property managers to make sure all the facilities are operational as if they were newly constructed. The responsible parties need to make sure drains are clean and free of obstructions, inlets cleaned out and the retention basin debris and soil accumulation is removed. We have found that in many private retention basin areas, the addition of landscaping rock, such as “Palm Springs Gold,” over the years has actually decreased the depth of the retention basins, thus diminishing the capacity. This may result in overflowing and flooding within the development. Being proactive is being prepared and these facilities should be checked to make sure they are clear and at the originally designed elevations.
As we are encouraging our residents, the City also has taken lessons from the events that occurred during the Valentine’s Day Flood. In the upcoming Capital Improvement Project budget, there are projects included to mitigate the challenges we typically encounter during the heavy storm events. The Los Gatos/Date Palm Drive Drainage Improvement Project will eliminate the need to shut down this major intersection when heavy rains occur. Another project, the Avenue Ximino Neighborhood Streets and Drainage Project, will not only pave streets, but also improve rain water drainage in this neighborhood area. And the big Project, that has already been designed, the Ofelia Bringas Memorial Bridge (formerly the Cathedral Canyon Bridge) Project should be getting a funding approval notice from Cal Trans this fall. Once funding approval is attained, we will be able to start construction on this Project that will keep Cathedral Canyon open during rain events.
