Flooding prevention kicksoff with Pajaro River clean-up effort

PAJARO, Calif. (KION-TV) -- The clearing out of a homeless encampment along the Pajaro levee. It’s a process they say will take a few weeks. Monday morning, crews are working to prevent future flooding.

This, a necessary step in flood prevention. “Well, our goal is to get people out of the river permanently,” Mark Strudley with the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency says they will be clearing the river of any remaining encampments, debris and will be performing vegetation control. 

“Well, our main concern is a couple of things. One is when there are dugouts created in or under the levee that weakens the levee and means they could break in the winter, so that's obviously something that's not compatible with protecting the community from floods,” Strudley says. 

For the last few days, volunteers with the Community Action Board have been connecting homeless people along the river with resources. 

“Our staff are out here on a regular basis, and we know many people on a first-name basis,” says Mike Kiittrege, director of Homelessness Prevention with the Community Action Board. “The goal is to always get people housed, reconnected with family, or in some way to get off the levee into a safe, stable environment. 

Mike says upwards of 150 people have called the Pajaro River home. Many of whom, he says, have lived there for more than 15 years. The main challenge his organization faces is limited resources. 

“So the resources that are available in town, whether some amazing resources, there's never enough.”  

Mark Struddle adds they are working with partners like the Community Action Board in hopes of providing necessary resources so that homeless individuals do not return to places like the levee.

The overall clean-up project will take a few weeks, as crews will later return to clear potential debris. The Community Action Board adds that they are working on a tiny home project, which would provide shelter for 34 homeless people.