Castro Valley Creek Maintenance Issues
I have lived on upper Castro Valley Creek for 30 years. The creek is supposed to be maintained by the Alameda County Flood Control division which is funded by our property taxes. Workers used to come every couple years and cut down small trees and bushes that grew in the creek. They also removed debris. I have not seen them come for over ten years. Last year, I noticed that chunks of wood and other debris were floating down the creek and getting stuck in the unmaintained foliage, forming small dams in various locations. The storm drains that go underneath Seven Hills Road were also clogged. I called several times last year to inform the Public Works Agency so they might clean the creek in time for the winter rains. I have yet to see any work being done except during the height of the storm when so much was already flooding.
Since New Year’s Day, this area has had the most rain we’ve seen in a long time. The creek has not been running smoothly because of the lack of maintenance. Could that have contributed to the destruction that happened upstream last week when Madison Road flooded, the elderly Fern Lodge residents had to be evacuated, and the backup of water caused erosion under the roots of a strand of huge eucalyptus trees growing on the creek? Two days ago one of the gigantic trees fell, crashing onto a home, hospitalizing a neighbor, and knocking out power. A couple other eucalyptus in this strand of trees are now leaning precariously. These trees were planted by the county long ago to stop erosion in the creek. Yet, the county does not take any responsibility for them. They have become dangerous.
The small local streams need care. They feed into the large streams. Castro Valley Creek feeds into San Lorenzo Creek. I even wonder if the lack of creek maintenance along Castro Valley Creek contributed to the collapse of A Street during the storm? Did debris from the smaller creeks plug up San Lorenzo Creek? It is time for the flood control division to take care of these maintenance issues and get Castro Valley Creek, and all of our creeks, into the best condition they can be.
–Marcia Baroni, Castro Valley
