A mysterious water leak in Chula
Vista has neighbors blaming
the local water district.
That story coming up? A
push to protect Mission
Bay's ecosystem. What you need o
know before a deadline tomorrow
Coming up how the nose on this
rat could prevent illegal wildle
trafficking and a special day
for San Diego police volunteers.
You make it happen.
CBS8 News Live at 6. Arts Now
and Hoa in Chula Vista says it's
been left with a $100,000 bill
over a mysterious water leak.
And neighbors there say
they're getting the runaround.
Good evening and thank you for joining us.
I'm Carlo Chichetto.
And I'm Anna Laurel in from
Marcella Lee. It's a story.
We're working for you to get answers.
CBS8's Shannon Handy shows us te
problem creating tension between
neighbors and the Otai Water District.
I'm here in the Robin Hood Point community.
Neighbors tell us water has
been leaking down one of their
hillsides for at least five yea,
and they believe it's coming from these
Otai Water District tanks behin.
But the agency says it's not our problem
and the seepage occurred.
All the way up there, Dave Summs
has lived in Chula Vista's Robin
Hood Point neighborhood since 1.
About five or six years ago,
he and his neighbors noticed war
seeping down one of the hillsides here,
onto the roadway and into
Beeble's backyards. We
were concerned that the source of that
water may be a couple of water s
that are built on the top of ths
hill owned by the Otai Water District.
Dave says the homeowners associn
reached out to the Otie Water
District asking them to investi,
but the answer they received
wasn't what they were expecting.
Their response is that it is naturally
occurring groundwater and it's
not their problem to many of us.
We believe that the more plausie
explanation is that Otie Waters operation,
their infrastructure has sprung a leak
after 40 years and it's seepingo
the ground coming down this hild
making life miserable for a homeowner.
And for this HOA,
Recently the HOA shelled out $100,000 to
put in a French drain, which has helped,
but Dave says it's a bandaid,
adding they shouldn't be the ones footing
the bill or any future ones that pop up.
Our problem is, I believe,
that we have to prove that the source of
the water is coming from their operation,
and that's extremely expensive.
You're talking lawyers and engineers,
resources that we as a community
and an HOA we just don't have.
And it's almost like David versus Goliath.
Dave says the issue has created
fears of declining home values,
erosion and water loss.
He mailed CBSA asking for help.
So we reached out to the Otai Wr
District pushing for answers.
In a statement,
a spokesperson said the Otai
Water District has assessed our
infrastructure numerous times,
including with the help
of contracted services,
and we've been able to eliminate
district owned infrastructure
as a possible source.
I did follow up today
asking what is the source?
And if the agency can provide
documentation of those assessme,
but I have yet to hear back,
we of course will follow up on this story.
Working for you in Chula Vista.
I'm Shanna Handy for CBS8.
Here at CBS8, we want to help se
problems that are affecting you.
If there's something you would e
us to look into, you can e-mails
at Working for you at cbs8.com.
Tonight we have more details abt
the City of San Diego's new Renr
protection plan that would maket
harder for landlords to evict tenants.
If passed, it would provide protections that
start as soon as a tenant signs a lease,
with exemptions for shortterm leases.
Among the protections,
it will offer financial assistae
when a tenants lease is termina.
Through no fault of their own,
San Diegoans who are paying ther
rent and abiding by their lease
should not live in fear of evic.
Sadly, too often San Diego renters are
being evicted despite following the rules.
The plan is headed to the full
San Diego City Council next wee.
A local nonprofit is hoping to maximize
wetland restoration near Deanza Cove,
while another group wants to keep the
camp land area where it stands .
A city meeting tomorrow will
discuss the future of that area.
CBS8's Ariana Cohen shows us
what's happening from Mission B.
The area around Deanza Cove hasn
a point of contention for years,
and now there's a new twist in the chapter
Re Wild Mission Bay Coalition is a part of
the San Diego Autobahn nonprofit working
to restore wetlands in the nortt
corner of Mission Bay in Deanza Cove.
Tommy, how is the campaign coordinator?
Well, we want to have cleaner
water for starter in the Bay.
That's probably the most important thing,
in fact, the area around Deanza Cove.
It has some of the most brackish
water in the Bay and that has te
longest area of circulation from
when water enters from the sea d
then exiting goes out to the se.
So the one thing that we know we
going to wind up having as a result of
restoring the wetlands is cleaner water.
But we also want to make sure
that we're we're taking advantae
of the time we have before sea
levels rise upwards of eight to0
feet over the next 80 odd years.
To ensure that we have the same level
of wetlands that we do right no,
so that when sea levels rise,
those threatened endangered
species don't lose their habitat
as it disappears under the water
line. Howe says it's imperative
for the city to provide maximum wetland
restoration to increase carbon capturing,
shoreline resiliency and ensuree
survival of endangered species.
The group also says this will provide
an even wider variety of recreational
offerings at Mission Bay Regional Park.
Oh, it's really important.
I mean, it goes back to how this land
used to be hundreds of years ag.
This used to be a Kumai
territory and native.
Native plants and animals,
indigenous peoples and all thats
been lost with development,
so to bring some of that
back would be tremendous.
I tried calling friends of Campd
and was not able to get a hold f
anyone in time for tonight's st.
However, the Friends of Camp
Land website says, quote,
ideally we would like to see the camp
land remain at its current loca.
A local family wrote this letter
to the city urging to support
waterfront camping as the master plan.
I emailed the city for comment.
I'm still waiting to hear back.
Now we have some concerns about.
We'd like to see maximum wetland restoration.
We're not really seeing the science of the
numbers for that in the city's proposal.
If you would like to comment ons
issue, the deadline is tomorrow.
e-mail the City of San Diego
Planning Commission reporting fm
Mission Bay, Arianna Cohen, CBS8
All right, Arianna. Thank you.