The rainy season is right around the corner, which means so is a new potential for flooding.
The upper Llagas Creek is known to overflow during heavy rainstorms, and each time, it threatens to soak homes and some businesses in downtown Morgan Hill.
But on Friday, local leaders announced they’ve secured $80 million provided by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to finish the final phase of the flood protection project.
They say it’ll help prevent flooding and protect more than 1,100 homes and 500 businesses in Morgan Hill.
“The people who are flood victims deserve that we just keep going at it until we get the job done,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren said. “So we finally did, we pieced together the funds.”
The creek runs through the city and into San Martin and it can rise quickly in heavy rain storms.
“Yeah, sometimes we can’t even get out of the house it’s flooded so bad,” Mark Stratton said.
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He’s lived in his home near the creek for 20 years and has witnessed how bad it can get.
“They’ve gotten halfway up our driveway. We’re elevated up on our house, up on a hill, and [the floods] have still gotten halfway up our driveway,” Stratton said.
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Valley Water crews have completed two of three phases so far, including installing a tunnel near downtown to divert creek overflow during storms.
“Watsonville Road was constantly flooding with four feet of water,” John Varela of Valley Water said. “Downtown Morgan Hill was always flooding, so this project has a personal impact on all of us that reside in Morgan Hill.
They expect the job to be finished in two and a half years to keep Morgan Hill drier for decades to come.
