SAN DIEGO — Amy Harris' backyard has a stunning view of Black Mountain in Rancho Peñasquitos.
She and her husband mountain bike on the trails.
“I've been mountain biking since I was a teenager. I've been living here 26 years,” said Harris. This year, they've noticed water where it normally would not be flowing.
“For us, when we're out biking like this summer, we’re saying, ‘Why is there water right here? Right now, it's August?’ It just feels strange that there's still water and it hasn't been raining,” said Harris.
The homeowner emailed CBS 8 after seeing our series of Working for You reports on water flooding backyards in Rancho Peñasquitos, and water flowing into the street.
In her email, Harris suggested we should check out another long-term water flow at the entrance to Black Mountain Open Space Park.
CBS drove out and, sure enough, water is flowing at a pretty good clip. And, nearby spray-painted markings on the pavement show arrows pointing to the water flow with the initials, SDWD.
“We think the spray paint's been there at least six months, and we think the water's been running a couple years,” said Harris.
The city of San Diego did test water flowing into one of the other streets, Wescott Court, and claimed it was not drinking water.
In previous reports, CBS 8 mapped out the locations where neighbors had reported flooding. This latest leak reported by Harris was more to the north, near a different water main.
Large water transmission lines carrying drinking water and reclaimed water are connected in the area to the Black Mountain Water Tank and a cement water reservoir on the side of Black Mountain.
“When it really rains here, water runs off a Black Mountain. You go to Miner's Ridge Loop, it's rad. We see the water running off of it. But it shouldn't be running now. There's no rain. It just makes no sense to us,” said Harris.
City of San Diego response
The city of San Diego emailed CBS 8 the following statement:
"City crews are working diligently to investigate for potential leaks from the City’s water system. To date, potential sources of a water flow this significant from the City’s drinking water service lines have already been investigated and ruled out. Crews are now investigating and performing maintenance on smaller water lines in the area. These 1-inch service lines now under investigation would not generate the flows shown in the video, but continuing to investigate and perform maintenance does allow for the possibility for the crews to help identify the cause elsewhere.
Here is a summary of recent actions taken in the area in the past week:
Leak Detection:
- Performed leak detection on ~60 services in the Meadowrun Street / Wescott Court area.
- Performed leak detection on 133 services on Stargaze Avenue and the blocks to the north on Mediatrice Lane, Marianopolis Way, and Bourgeois Way.
- There are ~100 additional services on Classique Way and Dalhousie Road and crews will perform leak detection on these in the upcoming days.
Proactive Service Line Replacement:
- 9276 Maler Road.
- 13854 Paseo Aldabra.
- 9283 Calle De Vista Oeste.
We continue to have no indication this water is coming from any drinking water service line, but we will continue to investigate in the area, which is anticipated to be completed this week."
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