San Diego flood survivors demand $100 million for stormwater as FY2027 budget falls short

San Diego flood survivors rallied last weekend demanding the city dedicate $100 million to stormwater infrastructure in its upcoming budget, saying two years of inadequate investment have left their neighborhoods vulnerable to another disaster.

The city’s FY2027 draft budget proposes $48 million for flood control capital improvements, down from the $88 million allocated in FY2026.

The city attributed the reduction to fewer emergency projects arising in the prior fiscal year. The city's own FY2027-2031 Five-Year Capital Infrastructure Planning Outlook, released in February, projects nearly $13 billion in total infrastructure needs over five years, with only $5 billion available.

Unlike water and wastewater systems sustained by ratepayer fees, stormwater has no dedicated revenue stream under California law and must compete for general funds against roads, fire stations and other capital needs. Stormwater infrastructure represents the largest single share of the shortfall.

"The Stormwater Department continues to face a widening gap between the cost of upgrades needed to address an aging stormwater system and available revenue sources," Todd Snyder, San Diego's stormwater department director, told Inside San Diego. 

Shelltown Resilience and Southcrest Flood Survivors, groups formed by flood survivors, gathered in Southcrest May 16 to pressure city hall ahead of the budget adoption.

"When you look at the budget, survivors are not being prioritized but also the infrastructure is not being prioritized, and we know that if they don't prioritize this, it's going to happen again," Marisa Aguayo, a member of the group, told CBS8.

Jessica Calix, who lost her Shelltown home in the flooding, is still living in a travel trailer more than two years later. In a May 5 op-ed in the Times of San Diego, Calix wrote that the city's flood channels were flagged as "catastrophe imminent" before the disaster and that residents' warnings went unheeded. 

"We need a budget that invests $100 million in stormwater infrastructure and reflects the real needs of our communities," Calix wrote. "Our lives cannot wait."

The city secured $4.36 million in federal community project funds in January for four Southcrest-area projects, including a Beta Street channel and storm drain improvement designed to upgrade Chollas Creek's drainage capacity to handle a 100-year storm event. It is drawing on a $733 million EPA Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act commitment, structured across three credit agreements, for longer-term stormwater upgrades.