Fallen Trees In San Pablo Creek Raise Flooding Worries
EL SOBRANTE (KPIX 5) -- Several downed trees are raising flooding concerns for people living near an East Bay Creek as a new round of storms rolls into the region.
The trees have fallen into the San Pablo Creek in El Sobrante, blocking a spill way into the San Pablo Resevoir.
KPIX 5 spoke with one homeowner who was worried about a tree in his backyard threatening to fall into the creek.
The concern is the trees will collect debris, creating makeshift natural dams that will causing flooding in the nearby area.
The question on the minds of area homeowners: who's responsible to remove the trees? Right now, there's a lot of finger pointing.
San Pablo Creek has long been considered an asset in the neighborhood. But after the recent rain storms, it has turned into a liability for neighbors.
"You have the water level reaching right here, to where I'm standing right now," explained homeowner Lane Jenkins.
Cell phone footage of the creek last week showed just how threatening the waters have been getting.
A combination of rain water and East Bay MUDD releasing water from the maxed out San Pablo Reservoir turned the creek into a raging river.
"Watching it hourly, because we didn't know how high the water would go," said Jenkins.
Jenkins lives right next to the normally quiet creek. He says he and other neighbors worry the creek will flood their yards. KPIX 5 counted 11 downed trees in the space of one block.
"The question is how much additional water rises because of the downed trees," said Jenkins.
One neighbor asked Contra Costa County to remove the trees this week. But the county says the creek falls into the homeowners' property lines, so homeowners have to foot the bill.
The neighbor also called up East Bay MUDD since they release water from the reservoir into the creek. The water agency said they don't own the creek and point the finger back at the county.
"You're releasing into the spillway. If you didn't release into the spillway, we wouldn't have this issue or fallen trees," said Jenkins.
The neighbors said it will cost thousands of dollars to remove the downed trees just on this one block.
