Bay Area Hillsides, Reservoirs Brace For Next Round Of Heavy Rain
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- The impending storm on Monday will bring another round of heavy rain into Bay Area hillsides and reservoirs, which have already had more than their fair share of water for the year--in the forms of mudslides and flooding.
Sausalito residents are bracing themselves for the next round of storms coming in tomorrow. The city says the hillside that collapsed earlier this month is stable with no signs of additional failure.
Many Sausalito residents are worried about what the next storm will bring and how much damage it will cause.
Janet Erickson, a Sausalito resident says, "It makes me nervous about what's going on in the hills up here."
Crews with the USGS were out on the hillside using laser technology to measure the stability of the ground and to try to spot areas of future risk. Sand bags were also stacked up against the hill to stop further movement of the earth.
But with 4 inches of rain expected to dump on Sausalito between Monday through Wednesday, many are worried of a repeat of this slide just over a week ago. Residents are hoping the city took proper precautions to keep people out of harms way.
The city has been working on the storm drain system. It has redirected the water runoff on Sausalito Boulevard so it doesn't come running down the same path here.
But everyone is pretty much in wait and see mode as this next storm rolls in.
Meanwhile, many South Bay Reservoirs are already full to overflowing after the last heavy round of rain. The Uvas Reservoir in San Jose is currently at 100.6 percent normal capacity. There's been so much rain this winter that water has been topping over the spillway for the past three weeks.
The Valley Water District makes sure to clear out any blockages, but all it takes is some logs and debris to force downstream communities, such as the Thousand Trails RV Park, to be evacuated or trapped.
The last atmospheric river turned a mudslide at Hicks Road in South San Jose into a soupy mess. After over a week of constant dump truck runs, it finally opened to one lane of traffic. But the temporary fix has left a steep wall of exposed dirt and roots, which likely won't last against another round of heavy rain.
Fisherman Paul Spencer said that the water now comes right up to his fishing rock at Uvas--normally, the shoreline is 50 feet away. He said that a fuller reservoir doesn't necessarily make for better fishing.
"When I've tried a couple of the fuller reservoirs around here when they are that way, I find better luck when they're about 3/4 of the way full," he said.
KPIX reporters Andrea Nakano and Kiet Do contributed to this story.
