The city of San Diego has paid $2.5 million since January 2018 to settle claims and lawsuits for damage from neglected and failing storm drains.
NBC 7 Investigates obtained the data through public records requests. The payouts range from $1,252 paid to a property owner in May of this year to a November 20, 2018, payout of $1.4 million to the Sanford Health Foundation for damages from a storm drain backup in 2016.
In the last four years, the city has had other large settlements over storm drain damage. In December 2015, the city paid two San Carlos homeowners $1 million to cover damages from a backed-up storm drain.
Claims and lawsuits over storm drain-related issues will likely continue, however, as the city faces a massive infrastructure backlog.
According to a 2018 report from the San Diego City Auditor, the city faces a $458 million funding shortage to repair its crumbling stormwater infrastructure.
Last month, as reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune, an apartment complex owner in Chollas Creek sued the city for $400,000 in damages from a 2018 flood caused by a clogged storm drain.
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NBC 7 Investigates reached out to the city of San Diego for comment on the payouts and what is currently getting done in terms of repairing the failing stormwater system. A spokesperson could not comment in time for publication.