Flooding in Pajaro Valley during storms has turned into a disastrous routine. When the levee fails, agricultural areas are disheveled and submerged. Homes are evacuated to avoid the unlivable conditions that follow. 

In the wake of last spring’s disaster, Pajaro Valley residents are once again fed up with the levee’s deficiency. Its first-ever breach occurred in 1955 — six years after its construction. 

The most recent levee break occurred on March 11, 2023, the fifth levee breach over the past 74 years. Pajaro resident Jerry Castro feels the weight of years of neglect to the levee.

“If we have another rain like this like we did last year, we’re gonna be right back where we started,” Castro said in an interview for KSBW Action News.

Agricultural land located off Murphy Crossing Rd, Watsonville, CA.

Castro is one of nearly 800 plaintiffs who filed claims against Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties for secure protection and guaranteed safety for their families, homes, and businesses. In July, around 682 of those plaintiffs filed a civil lawsuit against Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties through Kabateck Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP).

“We’re hoping to help them in some way and also to prevent this from happening in the future,” said Marina R. Pacheco, a partner with Kabateck LLP who is leading the mass tort. “This is history repeating itself and this should never have happened to these people.”

A mass tort is a specific type of claim plaintiffs can file. It occurs when a large group of people are harmed by the same events or acts and make claims against the same entity. The name of each plaintiff appears in the lawsuit.

After a major flood breached the levee in 1995, plaintiffs won a lawsuit against both Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties for damages caused by the heavy rainfall. The case took three years, and it wasn’t until 2002 that an appellate court found Monterey County, Santa Cruz County, and the State Department of Transportation liable for $51 million in damages.

A levee serves as a barrier between bodies of water and communities. During heavy rainfall, a functional levee prevents excess water from flooding residential areas. While the artificial wall has a life expectancy and breaks down over time, the structural integrity of the Pajaro levee project has fallen short of expectations within the community. 

Kabateck’s statement lays out the process claimants have taken to hold public entities accountable for the Pajaro flood in 2023. Affected residents seek compensation for the avoidable disaster, claiming that government entities were well aware of the flooding risk and neglected the safety of at-risk communities.

Flood advisory sign located on Murphy Crossing Rd, Watsonville, CA.

“Last time, the government entities didn’t step up early enough and I think that’s why it took so long,” Pacheco said. “It took seven years.”

Before the 2023 lawsuit has a chance to settle, the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency (PRFMA) is taking steps toward beginning the long-awaited reconstruction of the Pajaro levee.

“Our agency isn’t just responsible for building a new levee system with the Army Corps,” said Mark Strudley, Executive Director of PRFMA. “It’s also [our] responsibility for maintaining the levees, either the existing ones or the new ones that are going to be built.”

Several factors contributed to the reconstruction’s delay, including shifts in focus to other flood-risk areas and lack of priority in Pajaro due to low property values in low-income communities. Another pressing issue was the lack of funding from a non-federal sponsor. 

Signs of flooding within fields located off Murphy Crossing Rd, Watsonville, CA.

On Nov. 21, 2023, the United States Army Corps of Engineers signed a construction agreement for the Pajaro River Flood Risk Management Project to begin the reconstruction this year.

“The future is very bright, because the Army Corps has invested now upwards of about $153 million in this project,” Strudley said. 

Regardless of the lawsuit’s results, the community will continue their monthly contributions to the levee’s maintenance. Active litigation sits at the forefront of residents’ minds with the potential to drag on for years. Resident Jerry Castro waits among the locals in hopes that the lawsuit will ensure the levee’s reliability in future floods.

“What else can we do? I don’t know what else to do,” Castro told KSBW Action News. “If it wasn’t for that lawsuit, who’s going to help us?”