Given that the report is almost 6 months old, who knows how many more cases the above ground storm water drain running between the apartment complexes at 10760 Rose Avenue and 10776 Rose Avenue may have added to the total.
Filled with stagnant water that washed down from the Westside Village homes located on the hill above Rose Avenue, the storm water “drainage ditch” is not just unsightly, it is potentially deadly. More than a mere eyesore for apartment residents living on either side, the ditch has become a potential mosquito breeding ground.
“We’ve always hated living next to such an ugly, swampy mess, said a resident of the 10776 building. “Now with West Nile Virus, we’re afraid it could also be dangerous to our health. At one point behind the gate it gets so swampy we have laid down a board to act as a little crossing bridge.”
The drain comes up at the curb, runs across the sidewalk and up the side of the driveway at 10776 Rose and disappears under the side gate, continuing along the side of the building towards the back of the apartment property before continuing back underground.
The city’s storm drain system was designed to route rainwater quickly off the streets during a heavy storm. It collects and conveys this drainage runoff to the ocean and to other points outside the city’s boundary.
Storm Drain Issues and West Nile Virus
It is independent from the city’s sewer system, which connects to homes and collects and conveys wastewater to a treatment plant. In total there are 477 storm drain systems throughout the city.
Bureau of Sanitation workers called out to address the problem on Rose reported that at minimum the asphalt drain should be replaced with cement, but ideally it needs to be completely re-engineered. Meanwhile, they offered to simply come up and vacuum up the water when called.
Engineering studies have identified a number of deficiencies in the city’s storm drain infrastructure. Storm drains were found to be undersized, lacking inlets, configured such that it discharged drainage in an unacceptable manner, and in a state of disrepair.
The total cost of reconstruction to the system is $24.8 million. The total cost for lining the defective drains is $ 4.5 million according to an updated storm drain master plan submitted by the City Director of Public Works.
The drain pictured sits in the 5th district under Councilmember Jack Weiss, who hopefully will have money in this year's fiscal budget to fix this particular problem.
