ENCINITAS — The Encinitas City Council approved designs for its annual drainage repairs project and a storm drain lining project along Lake Drive, advancing work on some of the highest-priority pipes identified through an ongoing citywide assessment.
The council also authorized the city to advertise the projects for construction bids. The item was pulled from the Aug. 12 meeting’s consent calendar and approved unanimously.
The projects are part of a broader effort to address aging stormwater infrastructure following several major emergency drainage projects in recent years. The council has directed staff to assess the condition of underground infrastructure and develop a five-year capital maintenance program to better budget for and maintain the system.
The city owns and maintains 1,789 storm drain structures and around 65 miles of underground pipes comprising more than 4,000 segments. Some of the corrugated metal pipes, installed before Encinitas incorporated in 1986, are more than 75 years old. Age and corrosive soils have caused some pipes to deteriorate to the point that they require rehabilitation or replacement.
Engineering Director Dan Nutter said the citywide storm drain analysis approved in January has already revealed cracks and larger voids in the city’s piping, as evidenced by photos shown during the meeting.
“I don’t think it’s news to anyone that there are a lot of storm drain needs,” Nutter said. “That’s the fact of the matter.”
The council authorized the Storm Drain Condition Assessment Project on Jan. 21. Under the project, a consultant is identifying, inspecting and capturing video of underground storm drain pipes throughout the city. Staff is also maintaining a list of pipes requiring critical action based on a risk assessment that considers the severity of the consequences if a pipe fails and the level of deterioration.
In June, the council approved funding in the fiscal year 2026-27 capital improvement program to rehabilitate storm drain pipes in the Lake Drive canyon and other high-priority pipes identified through the assessment.
The projects approved at the Aug. 12 meeting call for rehabilitating nine of the highest-priority pipe segments identified so far, based on the available repair budget, with four additional pipes included as alternatives. Work could include pipe replacement, pipe lining and debris removal.
Project locations include Lake Drive, Neptune Avenue, Pinecrest, Emma Drive, Freda Lane and Genie Lane, with additional alternate work proposed at Avocet Court, Cerro Street, Pariva Drive and Hurtsdale Avenue, according to city documents.
At Lake Drive, plans call for lining two sections of 48-inch corrugated metal pipe totaling approximately 360 feet and replacing about 70 feet with high-density polyethylene pipe.
Nutter said modern pipe lining techniques have been found to be as durable as new pipe, while digging up and replacing pipe can cost up to 10 times as much.
“It’s a really good bang for our buck here as public servants,” Nutter said, adding that designing plans in “roughly a month and a half is astronomical.”
“Kudos to them,” Nutter said.
The Lake Drive work follows a major storm drain failure along the roadway in 2023, when a sinkhole roughly 20 feet in diameter opened between Sea Village and Wales drives in Cardiff. The sinkhole, caused by a failed corrugated metal storm drain pipe, expanded after 1.3 inches of overnight rain in March, forcing the city to relocate utilities, stabilize the site and reconstruct a reinforced concrete drainage pipe, embankment, roadway, sidewalk and stormwater detention basin.
Mayor Bruce Ehlers said the city’s stormwater improvements are important work that “should have been done 10, 12, 15, 20 years ago.”
“I’m so glad we are spending the $800,000 to do this,” Ehlers said of the citywide analysis project. “I thought this was an example of proactive basic infrastructure: first, figuring out what’s not been happening and get ahead — or at least get a plan to move ahead — on basic infrastructure that had been deferred maintenance for too many years.”
Deputy Mayor Jim O’Hara noted the recent uptick in stormwater maintenance funding as a sign the city now prioritizes the work.
“You guys are the ones out doing it,” O’Hara said to Nutter and the rest of the city staff. “So, thank you for this hard work putting this together. I’m glad it got brought up and I get a chance to tell you how appreciative we are of your hard work.”
The city expects to open construction bids in September and return to the council that month with a recommendation for awarding a construction contract. Construction is expected to begin in October.
