Storm Season Preparations are Underway

For Immediate Release –

Marin County, CA –

County conducts annual maintenance in advance of the typically rainy months 

While it is easy to forget during the hot, dry months of summer, winters can bring intense storms to Marin, delivering significant impacts across the county, including downed trees, landslides, damaged roadways and flooded streets. Minimizing such impacts and reducing flood risk is the driving force behind the annual storm season preparations of Marin County Department of Public Works (DPW) staff every summer.

DPW, in collaboration with the incorporated cities and towns of Marin, begins the maintenance work each year in late spring, with the bulk of the efforts occurring in the summer before wrapping up all preparations by mid-October. The preparations cover a wide range of work on creeks, levees, tide gates, pump stations, storm drains, culverts and roads.

Tasked with storm preparation responsibilities in parts of Marin, the Marin County Flood Control and Water Conservation District identifies issues and manages infrastructure in eight flood control zones across the county. The zones do not cover the entire county and are, for the most part, concentrated in the county’s urbanized eastern corridor. Within those zones, the District oversees 37 miles of creek beds and channels, over 14 miles of levees and berms, about 1.3 miles of floodwalls, 52 permanent pumps, seven portable pumps, and several stormwater basins.

Creek maintenance within designated flood zones is a major part of the overall storm season preparations conducted every summer. The District works with local partners, such as the nonprofit Conservation Corps North Bay and municipal public works departments, to handle maintenance on 18 creeks across the eight watershed zones. Teams perform essential vegetation management along creek banks to maximize water flow capacity while protecting habitat.

The creeks are also inspected for sediment levels, as excess sediment can clog waterflow and lead to flooding. Several creeks across the county are on rotating sediment removal schedules. For example, this summer, sediment will be removed from Rush Creek and Vineyard Creek in Zone 1 (Novato), and from Fairfax Creek in Zone 9 (Ross Valley).

The District’s crews also inspect, maintain and repair levees and timber reinforced berms as part of the seasonal protocol. Standard maintenance includes inspecting over 14 miles of levees and timber reinforced berms for weak points, fortifying with supportive material and filling rodent burrows to prevent leaks. This time-intensive process is already underway on levees and berms in Coyote Creek, Ross Valley, Santa Venetia and Novato. Key points in the levee network are rechecked during the winter months too as part of the storm season protocols, since some weak points may only be discoverable when it is raining and/or when tides are unusually high.

Each year, District staff and DPW Facility Maintenance staff inspect 52 pumps housed across 18 pump stations to ensure that they are functioning at optimal efficiency. The pumps play an essential part in reducing flood risk for neighborhoods such as Tiburon’s Bel Aire, Strawberry Circle, Santa Venetia, Granton Park in Kentfield, lower Tamalpais Valley and Novato. The pumps transport stormwater from low-lying lands into creeks, facilitating natural water flow out to the San Francisco and San Pablo bays.

In addition to annual servicing, major maintenance procedures are performed for each pump on a six-year cycle, which includes full extraction and cleaning of the machinery. This summer, four of the pumps in Zone 7 (Santa Venetia) will undergo major maintenance, as will two pumps in Zone 3 (Richardson Bay) and another two in Zone 4 (Bel Aire and Strawberry Circle).

Roadway work, handled by DPW’s Road Maintenance Division, is an important part of storm season preparedness and requires a significant amount of time and resources due to the large scope of work. Annual practices happening this summer include inspecting and, if necessary, cleaning over 5500 roadside storm drains and catch basins across unincorporated areas of the county. The cleaning process, called vactoring, is typically conducted in late summer and early fall. The process suctions out debris buildup from the drains, reducing the risk of becoming clogged during storms.

Additionally, there are hundreds of roadside drainage ditches along arterial and rural roads in unincorporated Marin, and those require the attention of the Road Maintenance Division crews. Upkeep on the ditches helps control stormwater flow and minimize roadside flooding and erosion. During the spring and summer months, all the culverts, inlets and flow pipes are inspected and, if needed, cleared along County-maintained roads.

Before, during and directly after storms, District and DPW crews check storm drains, trash racks, and pump stations to ensure that everything is operating effectively, addressing needs as they arise.

Before rainy season hits, residents are encouraged to take action on their own property to help reduce the risk of flooding. Before a storm, it is recommended that residents clear dead leaves from their driveway drains, rooftop gutters, and storm drains. Dead foliage should be disposed of in compost bins, not left in street gutters to clog drainage systems and cause neighborhood flooding. It is also important to remove any obstructions placed in the street gutters approaching driveways, such as rubber ramps which can block street gutters and exacerbate localized flooding.

People living in flood-prone areas should test their sump pumps and stock up on sandbags (available at most hardware stores) and learn how to properly use them prior to storms. Additionally, ReadyMarin.org provides many detailed resources, including emergency “go-bag” packing checklists, that can be helpful for residents to prepare for the unexpected.

It is crucial for residents to sign up for the Alert Marin notification system to be aware of emergency situations. The service, provided by the Marin County Office of Emergency Management, provides the public with time-sensitive alerts targeted toward specific addresses or neighborhoods. Residents who have registered should review their contact information to make sure it is up to date. Alert Marin is different from the Nixle notification service, which provides general safety announcements and/or post-disaster information.

Flood insurance is important for homeowners and renters alike, since standard insurance policies do not usually include flood damage. Even a few inches of water can result in thousands of dollars in repair and restoration costs. Marin County participates in the National Flood Insurance Program, which makes federally backed insurance available for all homes, and provides a range of resources to help property owners make the best decisions. To find out if your property is within one of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Special Flood Hazard Areas, residents can contact DPW’s Land Development help desk. Residents who seek such coverage are encouraged to contact their respective insurance agency.