Pleasanton homeowners concerned about erosion from winter storms
PLEASANTON, Calif. (KGO) -- Some homeowners in Pleasanton are anxiously watching as their backyards disappear. There's significant erosion from this winter's storms and consultants are looking for a solution in an effort to save the homes.
There used to be 13 trees on this part Foothill Boulevard, including three huge redwoods, and at least 30 feet of land.
It's all fallen into the Arroyo de la Laguna Creek in Pleasanton.
Ginger Belshe is worried her pool, and then her home, could be next to go. "We're numb, we don't know what to do from minute to minute. One second, we think we need to pack everything," she said.
The hillside started eroding two weeks ago from all the rain we have had. Three homes on Foothill Boulevard are affected. The residents say the sounds it makes are terrifying. "It shakes the house, it's not something you want to hear. We can't sleep at night," Belshe said.
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"It's emotional, a lot of great memories here," said neighbor Lori Raun. She says her family runs out every morning to check and see if they've lost any more land. Even in this sunny, dry weather, she's worried.
"What now I see is a lot of the trees that have fallen that are our trees, Ginger's trees, they're directly affecting the current and hitting our slope. Again, it's hard," Raun said.
Families say they never suspected this peaceful spot would create such huge problems for them. "Completely surprised. If I had ever, ever thought that this would happen, we never would have moved here," Belshe said.
The public water district official says this is all private property, even the creek. They did send out consultants to see what needs to be done to save these homes and they will bring it up during their board meeting next Wednesday.
There's also some question about blame, what could have prevented this. Some residents are wondering if growth upstream caused impact on their slope. The water district says that's impossible, calling the storms "acts of God."
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