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Despite concerns from some city leaders and residents, officials say floodwalls will be part of several mitigation efforts for the San Francisquito Creek as the upstream phase of the plan begins to take shape.
The Palo Alto City Council heard updates on flood control strategies from the creek Joint Powers Authority on Monday night. The JPA includes officials from Palo Alto, East Palo Alto and Menlo Park, and it has been tasked with exploring ways to protect neighborhoods in those three cities since a devastating flood in 1998. The first phase of flood mitigation downstream of U.S. Highway 101 was finished in 2019, and the JPA is now focused on the “Reach 2” segment of flood mitigation for the portion of the creek between the highway and the Pope-Chaucer Bridge.
“There is no scenario in which floodwalls are not necessary,” JPA Board Chair Margaret Bruce told the council.
She presented four alternatives that the board will discuss in the coming months, with a recommendation by the end of the year. Fixed floodwalls are part of each alternative, but the aspects that are up for debate are the replacement or modification of the Pope-Chaucer Bridge and the degree to which the creek banks are widened.
Bruce described channel widening as a “no regrets” element of the Reach 2 project because there is “no circumstance where widening would transfer risk somewhere else.”
She also said the JPA Board is considering splitting Reach 2 into two distinct phases so the project can proceed more quickly. The first phase would focus on widening the channel and replacing some of the existing temporary floodwall near University Avenue. Neither of these would require supplemental environmental review, Bruce said, and would cost an estimated $20 million.
Meanwhile, the second phase of the project would need an additional environmental review in order to extend the floodwalls and replace or modify the Pope-Chaucer Bridge — all of which would greatly extend the timeline for the Reach 2 project. This portion alone could also run upward of $100 million, Bruce added.
The council seemed open to the idea of splitting the Reach 2 project into segments.
“Let’s do as much as we can as soon as we can and continue to reduce risk,” Council member Pat Burt said.
Bruce also explained that the JPA is exploring the idea of bypass tunnels to redirect floodwater, like have been proposed in other flood-prone areas across the country, but that even this strategy would not replace the need for floodwalls.
To address the concerns about floodwalls, Bruce said they do not have to necessarily be concrete barricades. She offered ideas such as earth or sheet pile floodwalls, but reiterated that they would need to be part of the Reach 2 project in some capacity.
One of the most vocal opponents of the idea is Menlo Park Mayor Drew Combs, who Bruce previously said threatened to “blow up the project” if floodwalls were part of the Reach 2 design.
Combs has denied saying that.
Residents who live near the San Francisquito Creek and remember the 1998 flood spoke out in favor of the Reach 2 plan and encouraged further cooperation between the three cities involved in the design.
Hamilton Hitchings said he remembered standing thigh-deep in floodwater, which came within inches of his front door. His neighbors were not so lucky, he said, and their homes were rendered inhabitable after the flood.
“Without the Reach 2 project, most of the risk remains in a world where climate change is becoming more severe over time,” he told the council. “Please continue your thoughtful leadership to make the Reach 2 project a reality.”
Bruce and council members also hope that the Reach 2 project will not just mitigate potential flood impacts but also provide an opportunity to enhance the creek habitat and open new recreation areas along the creek border.
“Together we’re building a safer, more resilient future for all of our residents,” said Council member Greer Stone, who represents Palo Alto on the JPA.
