UPDATE: Flood warning for Pajaro community canceled

UPDATE 1/12/2017 5:50 PM:

The National Weather Service has canceled a flood warning for the Pajaro community in Monterey County. On Thursday morning, the Pajaro River was flowing at least four feet below flood stage then began to decrease. However, the levels would spike because of runoff from Llagas Creek in Santa Cruz County and the San Benito River Basin.

“The last time I saw it this high was back in 1995,” Juan Cervantes said.

Cervantes remembers when his hometown was underwater. While there have been lots of infrastructure upgrades since then, flooding along the Pajaro River has always been a major concern.

“It’s a real worry since you know how quickly and how much the water can flood in an area such as Pajaro,” Cervantes said. “And of course it certainly is a worry with all the roads and things like that maybe shut and that’ll cause problems for transportation.”

Crews from Monterey County Water Resources Agency and Public Works had been monitoring the river, checking the levels and making sure the levee would hold. They were confident it would, but wanted the public to be aware of the situation.

“Five feet of freeboard all along the Monterey County side of the levee and there’s no indication of saturation or failure potential failure of the levee at this time,” said Mark Foxworthy with Monterey County Water Resources Agency.

And unlike what’s happening on the Santa Cruz County side of the Pajaro River, there has not been any signs of seepage.

However, another issue just blocks away. The parking lot of an apartment complex was underwater earlier this week. Crews say river water began infiltrating some of the drains caused a backup. A pump was brought in to help put that water back into the river.

But the threat of flood is far from over for those folks.

“Unfortunately we’ll be pumping for the duration until the river water subsides,” said Shawn Atkins with Monterey County Public Works. “I estimate we’ll be there until probably another week or so.”

ORIGINAL POST:

After the latest in a series of rainstorms, emergency management officials have their eyes several potential trouble spots, including the Pajaro River.

Thursday morning, the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services issued a Flood Warning for the community of Pajaro. The warning will remain in effect until 8:00 a.m. Friday morning, Jan. 13, 2017.

The county reported that water levels in the Pajaro River were rising in response to pulses of runoff upstream from both the Llagas Creek and San Benito River basins. Residents were strongly urged to take appropriate precautions or preparations to protect life and property in the event of a flood.

KION’s Mariana Hicks is covering the story and has learned there are other areas of concern as well. She will have an up-to-the-minute report on the condition of local roads and levees tonight on KION 5/46.