There is an ongoing battle pitting a local nonprofit against the City’s Stormwater Department over the alleged destruction of Rose Creek habitat in Pacific Beach during flood maintenance and prevention activities.

Friends of Rose Creek claim heavy equipment being used by the City to clear out flood channels in the watershed is destroying native habitat. The City counters that it has only been minimally invasive in bringing necessary equipment in to do the necessary work required.

“Beginning in 2015, the state began to require that trash be kept out of creeks, estuaries, and bays as part of the MS4 permit, which allows the City to allow (City) stormwater to run off the built environment,” said Karin Zirk, Friends of Rose Creek spokesperson. “Unfortunately, as the City has allowed a backlog of work for the Stormwater Department, nothing ever gets done.”

Zirk contested the need for the City to do further maintenance to control flooding in the Rose Creek’s wetlands habitat. “As to the (flooding) problem being worse, I don’t believe it is worse,” she said. “In some places, it is much better due to the hard work of volunteer groups such as the Friends of Rose Creek. Even in the area along the new stretch of the bike path, things are better.”

Zirk voiced her complaint in a letter to the City’s Stormwater Department.

“It’s important to clarify that a small segment of the earthen channel needed to be removed solely for equipment access through an earthen ramp (900 square feet of vegetation removal along the earthen embankment and 400 square feet of vegetation removal from inside the earthen channel),” answered Eddie Salinas, deputy director of Stormwater Department – Operations Division. “This segment was documented as part of the maintenance activities. We will certainly reinforce with staff the importance of minimizing the amount of time the vehicle is running whenever possible.

“All remaining work in the channel is confined to the concrete segments of the channel. Vegetation removal on top of the concrete is necessary for inspection purposes to assess current conditions. Vegetation removal from atop the concrete is essential for inspection to determine its current condition and any potential repair needs post-clearance.”

Added Salinas: “This maintenance activity is considered a proactive flood protection measure that allows our staff to assess the channel’s structural integrity, its ability to properly contain flows, and minimize the potential for channel breaching. We have a biologist actively monitoring the work and documenting any impacts on the environment.

“The City has followed all proper notification procedures to the resource agencies for these emergency activities. Upon completion of the emergency work, we will assess biological impacts and determine appropriate mitigation measures.”

Zirk contends it would be better, and more productive, for the City to concentrate its Rose Creek maintenance efforts on “(non-native plant) invasives control and the pruning of trees.” She added doing so would have significant benefits.
“We have effectively reduced and discouraged encampments along the upper salt marsh at Rose Creek between Grand and Garnet simply by pruning trees so there is visibility underneath them,” Zirk said. “This discourages encampments. If the City and CalTrans would be willing to undertake invasive removal and prune the native trees to increase visibility in the creek bed, the reduction in encampments would be considerable.”

Zirk extended an invitation to the City. “If anyone wants an in-depth guided tour of the area with a historical perspective, I would be more than happy to share hard-won knowledge about the creek and the shortcomings of the City in managing critical habitat for the last 20-plus years,” she said.