How did San Mateo prep for storms?

“We recently completed final maintenance on our fifth engine. We also recently established a fourth sandbag station in North Central … because I know North Central was a priority for the community previously,” Deputy Public Works Director Katherine Sheehan said.

About 4,300 of the city’s 6,000 catch basins have also been cleaned.

“That’s going up and up and up. … We start from the east side of the city, which is our most downstream portion of our storm drain and then we move upstream,” Sheehan said.

The sandbag stations are currently located at Turnbull Preschool, Anchor Road, 1949 Pacific Blvd. and 2720 Alameda de las Pulgas. So far, 350 out of the 1,000 total sandbags have been used, especially at the Anchor Road location. Sheehan said they are also starting to work on a spot dredging project.

“We’re also working on small-scale drainage improvements. We use our stormwater fee to support those,” Sheehan said. “There are a lot of areas where we have localized ponding, so we’re just trying to continue to make progress on those.”

In December 2023, voters approved the Community Flood and Stormwater Protection Initiative, which enacts a monthly fee for property owners — ranging from around $5 to $11 depending on property size — and goes toward upgrading and maintaining the city’s stormwater infrastructure including Marina Lagoon dredging. The effort began and gained momentum after severe flooding throughout the region during the New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day storms two years ago.

The city has also installed cameras, monitoring priority creeks and trash racks, including one at Coyote Point Storm Pump Station, two at the 42nd Avenue undercrossing and three cameras will monitor the Marina Lagoon Pump Station, according to a staff report.