Editor’s note: In the coming weeks, The Coronado News is planning to ask each of this year’s City Council candidates questions about the most pressing topics concerning Coronado. The candidates’ responses will be presented in a different order each week to ensure fairness. The candidates are limited to 200 words for each response. There are two positions up for grabs on Coronado’s City Council in the November elections. Rebecca King, Kelly Purvis, Andrew Gade and Ricky Hoyt are vying for the open seats. The topic covered this week is housing and affordability.
Question: The city had a bad flood a couple years ago when a pump station failed during storms. Coronado’s infrastructure is old. What steps would you take to protect the city, its businesses and residents from future floods? Where would you get the money, and do you think Coronado should allocate more funds to replace pipes and pump stations?
Rebecca King
Answer: Coronado is flat, at sea level, and surrounded by water, requiring pumps and pipes to move both our storm water and wastewater. The new Parker Pump Station is finally online, but many decades-old pipes and stations remain.
My first step would be a risk-ranked plan for this aging infrastructure. Coronado’s Capital Improvement Plan puts about $8.8 million toward wastewater projects, most of it pipes and pump stations, and $2.1 million toward storm drains. I’d rank every pump station and pipe by risk, fund the highest-risk work first, and report progress publicly.
Second, I’d tie the plan to the city’s 2022 Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan, so projects are designed for future storms and rising seas.
Third, the city must be ready before storms: backup power and pumps staged, a tested emergency plan, and early information for residents and businesses, especially with El Niño approaching.
For funding, start with what’s committed: The new sewer rates that took effect in July are dedicated to wastewater infrastructure. Coronado should also pursue state and federal flood-mitigation grants and prioritize capital dollars toward flood protection.
Well-planned investing before infrastructure fails costs far less than emergency repairs, clean-up, property damage,and business disruption.
Kelly Purvis
Answer: The severe flooding of 2024 in Coronado was extraordinary in both its strength and rain totals. It overwhelmed systems throughout the region, and even well-maintained infrastructure can be exceeded by a storm of that magnitude. Nevertheless, we have learned from that experience and continue strengthening protections for residents, homes and businesses.
Coronado has made significant progress. The new Parker Pump Station represents a major investment in flood protection, and the city has worked systematically over the past several years to prioritize and upgrade pump stations throughout the community. We must continue inspecting and replacing aging pipes, modernizing pumps, adding backup power where appropriate, clearing storm drains and identifying vulnerable areas.
Preparation is equally important. Coronado’s El Niño planning includes preventive maintenance, equipment readiness, staff coordination and public communication, demonstrating the value of acting before a storm arrives.
I support funding through the city’s Capital Improvement Program and our Wastewater Fund supplemented by county, state and federal infrastructure grants. Coronado also maintains adequate emergency reserves if necessary. Protecting essential infrastructure is my priority, guided by engineering assessments and a long-term replacement schedule. Planning and prevention are far less costly and far less disruptive than recovering from another major flood.
Andrew Gade
Answer: Coronado must prioritize investing in essential infrastructure. We should absolutely allocate more funds to replace old pipes and infrastructure, and we can finance these efforts within our existing city budget. To protect our city from future floods, we should prioritize replacing aging underground storm drains and pipes, upgrading pump stations, and having mobile pumps available for emergencies. The good news is the Parker Pump station is finally up and running, which will help reduce flooding in the Country Club neighborhood. As extreme weather events intensify and become more frequent, it is crucial to invest in resilient infrastructure, in addition to planning for sea level rise.
Ricky Hoyt
Answer: Coronado is a low-lying community surrounded by water, so protecting residents and businesses from flooding requires investing before the next major storm — not reacting after infrastructure fails.
The city already has important work underway, including pump-station improvements, drainage planning, storm-drain repairs and seawall stabilization. I would prioritize investments based on infrastructure condition, probability of failure and consequences of failure. When aging systems are replaced, we should upgrade them where practical — not simply replace them in kind — to improve capacity, reliability and resilience to flooding, earthquakes and other natural hazards, consistent with the city’s hazard-mitigation planning.
Flood protection is a complete system. Storm drains and pump stations move water out of neighborhoods, while seawalls, beaches and dunes protect against coastal flooding and erosion. The city’s Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Plan should guide long-term investments, while erosion near the Coronado Shores reinforces the need for regional beach nourishment.
The city recently addressed wastewater infrastructure through a new rate structure. We need the same disciplined assessment of storm-drain infrastructure, maximizing existing funds and pursuing state and federal grants before asking residents for additional money.
