“Every time you see the beach closed because of bacteria or you go to Mission Bay and the water looks oily or nasty after a rainstorm, that’s all related to the stormwater system. And the fact that the stormwater system in San Diego is so old and underfunded and falling apart, there’s a direct relationship. If you don’t fix that system, you’re going to continue to have lousy ocean water quality.”
— Phillip Musegaas, Executive Director, San Diego Coastkeeper
A Costly and Urgent Problem
Every year, flooding causes around $8 billion in damage and loss in the United States alone. Scientists cite climate change as one of the driving factors in flooding and the reason that the number of floods each year is increasing. The San Diego region has seen its fair share of flooding in recent months, including a devastating flood event in January 2024 that destroyed homes and displaced hundreds of San Diego residents, many of whom are still struggling to return and repair their homes.
With current stormwater infrastructure in dire need of significant public investment, San Diego’s political leaders continue to look for funding solutions to address this chronic pollution and public safety crisis. The result is a system that is underfunded, overburdened, and outdated. In short, it is struggling to hold up under all that Mother Nature is throwing at it. And it is failing.
What is Stormwater?
Stormwater, or “urban runoff,” is the excess water that isn’t absorbed by the ground from irrigation, snow melt, and rain. It runs off surfaces such as roads, roofs, and parking lots. When there is no proper drainage or a pump system, that water has nowhere to go so it collects. Then flooding occurs.
The problem with stormwater, aside from flooding, is the environmental dangers it presents. It is not treated, so as it flows it is carrying sediment, pollutants, and trash. Essentially, whatever trash and pollution is on streets and parking lots gets flushed into nearby waterways. When you see stormwater running into a storm drain on a street corner, that drain leads directly to nearby water bodies, flushing contamination to our oceans, rivers, and lakes. When it floods, those contaminants can also find their way into people’s homes, businesses, and other structures.
Stormwater infrastructure is designed to prevent or minimize flooding. It contains several features that capture rainwater where it falls and filters it to remove the contaminants and prevent pollution. This is accomplished in several ways:
- Water treatment systems, including stormwater basins that collect and filter or treat the water before it flows into the city’s stormwater pipes
- Landscaping to retain and naturally filter stormwater
- Permeable surfaces that slow the rate of water infiltration into the ground and stormwater system, such as permeable pavers instead of concrete or asphalt.
- San Diego’s stormwater infrastructure is outdated and not equipped to handle the amount of runoff that has been occurring recently due to heavy rains in the area.
Factors Contributing to Flooding in San Diego
Backlogs and delays have kept the system from being maintained properly, but one of the biggest barriers is budget. The city needs more than $1.6 billion to make the necessary upgrades and repairs that would make it fully functional.
Despite the critical nature of the situation in San Diego, a proposed measure to fund the system’s essential restructuring and repairs will not appear on the November 2024 ballot. City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera and a coalition of community and environmental advocates, of which Coastkeeper is a part, made the tough decision to withhold it due to potential changes in ACA-1, a proposed state ballot measure that, if approved by voters, would have lowered the threshold for local infrastructure funding approval to 55%. ACA-1 was revised to only apply to bond measures, thereby leaving the fate of a stormwater ballot measure needing 2/3rd approval by voters to succeed. Given this high hurdle, the coalition decided to work on building broad public support to put this measure on the ballot in 2026. This does not mean there will be no potential new funding for stormwater this year – Mayor Gloria has put a 1% sales tax increase measure on the November ballot, and if it’s approved, the Mayor has voiced public support for ensuring that additional tax revenue would go to the City Stormwater Department to fix its system.
The stormwater system was designed and built more than 100 years ago, during a time when the city of San Diego did not have the dense population or urbanization that it does now. Couple that with climate change, increasingly severe rain events, and San Diego’s “canyon and mesa” landscape, and the end result is that the aging infrastructure simply cannot keep up.
The problem with stormwater systems that are neglected, have not been properly maintained, or have not been updated regularly is that they are at an increased risk of failure. This can lead to flooding, property damage, sinkholes, and lives lost. This in turn wreaks havoc on the local economy.
The drains and pipes that make up San Diego’s stormwater infrastructure are old, making them more fragile and more likely to fail. They are also outdated, meaning that it is not as efficient as they should be, given current technology.
Climate Change and Increased Rainfall Intensity
According to the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District, climate change is severely affecting the area. The sea level is rising while the climate is getting drier and hotter. These changes have the potential to cause increased storm frequency and severity.
This will leave the ground saturated and the lack of a working stormwater system means increased flooding. If there is more rain within days or even weeks, it can lead to more flooding or those areas can flood again. The problem becomes cyclic and it is increasingly more difficult to recover. The residents, business owners, and all in the affected area will have even more difficulty getting back on their feet.
This also increases the likelihood of the destruction of the local ecosystem as it acts like a battering ram with each devastating storm because the earth never has a chance to recover.
Urbanization and Impermeable Surfaces
San Diego has a population of 1.39 million (US Census 2020) and is growing rapidly. By 2030, that population is expected to grow to 1.69 million, by 2040, 1.83 million, and by 2050 1.95 million.
As the population increases, natural land decreases and is replaced with concrete and structures that do not absorb water, but instead hold it. If that water has nowhere to go because the stormwater system is not functioning properly, it will build up, causing flooding.
Aging and Underfunded Infrastructure
The stormwater system in San Diego is more than a century old. During that time, there have been no major or significant updates. More recently, maintenance backlogs and lack of funding have prevented necessary maintenance and repairs.
The cost to get the system to where it needs to be exceeds $1 billion, which has the potential to be met with 100 million dollars a year. The city has not been able to find any room in the budget to meet this need, except for occasional inputs of federal funds, most recently from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. Meanwhile, flooding and polluted stormwater runoff continue to threaten our communities and degrade water quality, with very little progress made even as we approach another rainy season in San Diego.
Final Thoughts
The devastating flooding in San Diego in January 2024 caused so much destruction and loss in the city and county that it was evident recovery would be a long road. Had flood channels and stormwater pipes been cleared and maintained, it’s likely the flooding would not have been as severe and many residents would not have lost their homes.
This crisis requires all of us to get involved and support solutions that will protect our communities and keep polluted stormwater out of Mission Bay, San Diego Bay and our beautiful coastal beaches. Support public investment in stormwater infrastructure. Go to your local elected officials and let them know you value clean water and healthy, safe communities. If you can, make changes to your own home to capture and reuse rainwater before it flows down the drain, including using a rain barrel. Get informed and stay engaged! Your energy and commitment will make a difference.
We can do it but we must do it together.
Contact San Diego Coasteeper to learn more.
