The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors has committed $15 million to the construction of the Vista Grande Watershed Project, aimed at addressing persistent flooding in San Mateo County and parts of San Francisco.
Supervisor David Canepa attributed the floods in the area to excessive rainfall triggering an overflow of water in San Francisco’s Lake Merced.
“When San Francisco’s Lake Merced overflows, it floods north San Mateo County five hours later, and during heavy rains like we are experiencing now, the floods can cause extensive property damage,” Canepa said in a statement.
Canepa added that the sewer system in San Mateo County is “aging and historic” and it would need significant plumbing adjustments to adapt to the changing climate in the Bay Area.
Daly City, an area consistently affected by the floods, will spearhead the expansion of the capacity of the Vista Grande Drainage Basin to facilitate better rainwater movement to the Pacific Ocean.
“The Vista Grande Project is the largest public works project in the history of Daly City and one of the most critical. It will replace and upgrade undersized pipelines and drainage systems for this region while enhancing environmental protections,” Daly City Mayor Juslyn Manalo said.
In addition to Daly City, project partners of the watershed include San Mateo County, North San Mateo County Sanitation District, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Caltrans, among others.
Construction of the project is set to begin in 2025.