The Cupertino Courier

Photograph by George Sakkestad

If the Calabazas Creek channel floods again during the next set of El Niño-powered storms, these sandbags on Bollinger Road will stand as the last line of defense for East Estates homes. Some residents, including Sharen Guerra, say the city could have done more to protect their homes.

East Estates residents left feeling vulnerable after recent flooding

By Pam Marino

It could be five to 10 years before the Calabazas Creek channel that runs under Bollinger Road is improved, despite the fact that several nearby homes suffered damage due to its flooding during February's storms.

A wall of sandbags along the fences that face Bollinger now stands as the only line of defense for East Estates homes if the channel floods again during El Niño-powered storms in March or April.

One of the main problems in the first February storm, which the Santa Clara Valley Water District has categorized as a "70-year event," was that a large tree uprooted and fell into the creek, blocking the water headed into the culvert under Bollinger Road. City and water district crews removed the tree as soon as possible. But the tree was just one piece of a larger problem: The culvert needs to be widened, and the district doesn't have the money to do it, according to a district spokesman.

"They don't even have the money to plan for it," said Councilman Don Burnett, who represents Cupertino on both the water district board and the North Central and Northwest Flood Control Zone Advisory Committee.

Even if there were money available today, it would take years to study the culvert and determine the best way to widen it, according to district engineer Randy Tally.

That's little comfort to residents who live in Calabazas' flood plane. One resident, Sharen Guerra, said she wants to know why the district and the city have no interim plans to protect homes.

"They have to take action now," Guerra said.

Both district and city officials said residents, at this point, need to find funding for the project by pushing for a November bond measure. They also recommended that residents take preventive measures such as organizing neighborhoods for disaster preparedness and purchasing flood insurance.

In 1990, voters in the North Central Flood Control Zone, which includes the homes along the Calabazas, agreed to pay approximately $20 per household annually until the year 2000. The water district earmarked the resulting $6.5 million for maintenance and flood control improvements along the Calabazas.

The water district began closest to San Francisco Bay, where the creek ends, and worked its way upstream. The last project funded by the 1990 bond, widening the culvert and bridge at Miller Avenue, is under construction now. Miller Avenue is next to the Gardens of Fountainbleu Apartments, which also flooded last month. The district estimates the Miller project will cost $1 million to $1.5 million.

Water district and city officials said it would take another bond measure, like the one passed in 1990 by a two-thirds vote of the residents, to provide the money to fix the Bollinger culvert.

According to Tally, the district first wants to study the entire flood control area and make a plan for the future beyond the year 2000.

However, even if residents were able to force a ballot measure this November, Tally said it would take three to four years just to complete studies of the improvement project, and another one to two years to complete construction. He said he would not hazard a guess as to how much fixing the Bollinger culvert might cost.

In addition, he said, even if the district widened the culvert and designed it to withstand a larger flood--a 10-year event, for example--there is no guarantee the area won't experience flooding.

"There's always some event that could exceed capacity," Cupertino Public Works Director Bert Viskovich said.

Tally agreed.

"That's the thing--you can't guarantee flood protection, but you can lessen the risk," Tally said.

Burnett said it is possible the city could look into participating in an improvement project, although one side of the Bollinger bridge is in San Jose.

Burnett said now may be the time to motivate residents and the district to do something.

"Before El Niño, it was hard to get people working on that. Now there's public support for additional funding, now that people see what can happen with the flooding," Burnett said.

Guerra said the flooding of her home has motivated her to push for change. She has already looked into organizing a neighborhood disaster-preparedness group. And she wants to push for a ballot initiative.

Guerra said she also wants the city to change the way it handles future flooding along the Calabazas. She said she was angry that the city did not do more to help the East Estates residents after the first storm. The sandbag wall, she pointed out, was not built until after the second storm.

City officials said they did help East Estate residents as much as they could.

"We were very responsive," Viskovich said.

Viskovich said other residents throughout Cupertino sandbagged their own homes, while the city attended to clearing debris from creeks and storm drains, as well as cleaning up between storms. In response to Guerra's numerous calls, the city helped build the wall behind the East Estates homes. Sandbags ran out in Cupertino and throughout the Bay Area between the two storms, which hampered efforts to construct a wall earlier.

Guerra said East Estates residents, because they live near the inadequate Bollinger culvert, need more help than other residents.

"Other residents didn't have to sandbag as much as we did," Guerra said.

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