Pajaro Dunes Community still facing flooding problems
A combination of high surf and heavy rain clogged the Pajaro River mouth, leaving the only road in and out of the Pajaro Dunes Community completely flooded and some residents completely fed-up.
“It’s just frustrating that they’re not doing something, they’re not solving the issue. And with the next tax revenue coming in you think someone would have a strategy, or a game plan, so that this sort of thing would not happen,” said Mark Cullivan, a resident of the community.
“We have access to this place but sometimes we just can’t get here. And on a holiday weekend like yesterday there were literally dozens if not hundreds of people stranded. And I think, something ought to be done about that,” said Jeff Raimundo, a resident.
There’s only so much that can be done to relieve the flooded road. Santa Cruz County Public Works breached the Pajaro River mouth about a month ago in anticipation of winter storms. It’s just a waiting game now, once the tide gets low enough and there’s enough downstream flow out of the river mouth, the flooding will flush out eventually.Santa Cruz County Public Works said a big fix here is out of reach financially.
“Yeah, we’ve talked over the past couple of years about raising the road. Raising Beach Road up and down to Shell Road, but you know it would be up in the millions and right now we just have no budget to be able to handle a job like that,” said Terry Reynolds with Santa Cruz County Public Works.
“I’ve been here 20 years, and you know, this is mother nature…I’m a transportation guy, and I don’t know of any county in the state of California that has enough money to keep their roads in shape, all of their roads in shape,” said Dave DeBoer, a resident of the community.
Realtor Don Dean said people who buy into the Pajaro Dunes lifestyle know it has its rainy season challenges.
“For those that are coming in here, they need to be informed that this is an issue, that flooding happens here, and all those things are disclosed in the process,” said Dean, with Pajaro Dunes Realty.
Santa Cruz County has talked about raising the elevation of Beach Road to prevent flooding but that will require funding and agreement on how to get the job done. So as of now, it’s just a matter of time before things dry out.
