Water Agency unveils flood-protection options for Sonoma

Bobcats, foxes and deer often are spotted drinking at a small channel that runs along First Street West in Sonoma, just up the block from its historic Plaza.

Several residents urged local officials at a meeting Wednesday to protect the small waterway as they look for solutions to downtown flooding. The Sonoma County Water Agency held the meeting to discuss options on dealing with the street flooding, south of Depot Park.

Possibilities ranged from installing a 54-inch pipe, building a sidewalk over the channel and doing street improvements, costing up to $1.5 million, to simply adding a trash rack and improving the existing channel, which narrows in some areas because of overgrown eucalyptus trees.

The agency received a $1.9 million state grant for the project, money that previously was earmarked to build a detention basin on a section of the Montini Preserve to relieve pressure on storm drains and control downstream flooding. The agency abandoned the idea and turned its attention to First Street West after the basin proposal drew major opposition from residents. The agency also determined it would not yield the storm-water recharge levels they hoped for, spokeswoman Ann DuBay said.

The project is geared toward promoting groundwater recharge and reducing flooding along Fryer Creek.

It also includes replacing a culvert on West MacArthur Street, which contributes to downstream flooding and blocks fish passage upstream. The agency also plans to put in native plants and a shady riparian canopy along the creek, DuBay said.

“You know, and we know, we have a history of flooding here in Sonoma Valley,” said Susan Gorin, chairwoman of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors who also heads the water agency board. She said some of the pipes in the area needed to be replaced and expanded.

City officials said the open channel along First Street West often overflows during heavy storms, spilling onto sidewalks and down the roadway to the Plaza.

“Whenever there is a major storm event ,we have street flooding that nearly reaches structures. In some cases, it has,” Sonoma’s Public Works Director Dan Takasugi said before the meeting, where officials were taking down residents’ comments to later submit to the Sonoma City Council, along with a recommendation.

The recommendation is expected to go before council members for a vote Feb. 18. If approved, work in the area could start as soon as 2017, according to an engineer.

Takasugi said the city saw flooding in the area during the Dec. 11 storm that slammed Northern California. He said it could continue to be flooding problem and safety concern for Public Works employees if it’s not resolved.

“That flow is coming down at a very past pace. We’re concerned for our staff,” he said at the meeting, which drew about 30 residents and city officials, including Mayor David Cook and Councilwomen Laurie Gallian and Madolyn Agrimonti.

To prepare for this weekend’s rainfall, Takasugi said staff cleared drains. They’ll continue to closely monitor when the heavy showers move in starting Thursday. The North Bay is expected to get up to 6 inches of rainfall by Sunday, according to AccuWeather.

“We have a strong interest seeing this happening,” Takasugi said about the improvements.

However, residents argued it would hurt wildlife to pave over the ditch. Many preferred the solution of taking out the eucalyptus trees that block water flow.

“Once you cover that and take away the wildlife, you’ll never get that back,” one man said.

You can reach Staff Writer Eloísa Ruano González at 521-5458 or eloisa.gonzalez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @eloisanews.