SAN DIEGO — In June, CBS 8 first profiled the standing water issue that had been plaguing a North Park neighborhood for many years.
Pools of water would collect along the 4300 block of 34th Street on the curb line in front of an apartment building, causing a mosquito and fly issue.
“It’s very disgusting, just getting off of work and you just get hit with this pungent smell,” said neighbor Ellie Thayer in June.
A home nearby was causing excess runoff into the street from their sprinklers, so neighbors contacted CBS 8.
Neighbor Rick Evert and CBS 8’s Brian White knocked on the door of the house causing the runoff problem, but the homeowner didn’t answer.
Brian then reported the issue to the city and the Stormwater Department came out to inspect.
“We sent out a code compliance officer to come and inspect the property,” said Nicole Ridge, Code Compliance Supervisor with the Stormwater Department. “When she came on site, she did notice that there seemed to be an irrigation, either malfunction or a broken sprinkler head at the property, so they were put on notice to fix that.”
They sent a notice of violation to the homeowner and some education materials about the issues runoff can cause for the environment. Just last week, neighbors noticed the sprinklers were fixed and the puddling stopped.
“Over-irrigation does lead to standing water and ponding water within the right-of-way,” said Bethany Bezak, Interim Director of the Stormwater Department. “Sometimes that leads to nuisance conditions, so not only is it a pollution prevention concern but we also want to keep our streets clean and healthy for our neighborhoods.”
Though there still may be puddling issues when it rains on occasion, for now, neighbors are just grateful to see the puddles gone.
“I feel grateful that they came out and that they listened to us in the neighborhood, and it did resolve the problem with the puddle, with the puddling and resolve the mosquito issue,” said Page Carman, who lives on the street. “The stench is improved ten-fold. There isn’t a foul odor right now. There’s nothing pungent going on, so this is great.”
WATCH RELATED: Neighbors in North Park frustrated by standing water with no drainage (June 2022)