‘People are overwhelmed’: Pajaro River levee residents face Monday deadline to leave, with no sure place to go

Every morning this week, the homelessness outreach team from Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County has been making an effort to visit residents living along the Pajaro River levee in a race against time before crews arrive at 7 a.m. Monday to clear the area.

Sporting neon yellow vests and carrying flyers listing resources, the outreach team is making it a goal to visit as many shelters along the river levee as possible, asking residents if they are aware of the cleanups and if they’ve made any plans to seek shelter elsewhere.

Crews are slated to begin removing shelters, vegetation and any trash building up on the river levee on Monday. Residents are expected to vacate the area by 7 a.m. that day, according to a notice posted at the levee by Monterey County. 

The sweeps are necessary to help address the levee’s structural weakness, Mark Strudley, executive director of the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency, previously told Lookout. The agency aims to repair any damage created by residents building shelters, and to prevent future flooding. 

Elizabeth Rodriguez, a Community Action Board case manager, carries a notebook with her with the names and contact information of levee residents whom she and the outreach team have met throughout the morning. This is how the team can keep track of residents once crews begin to clear out the river levee, an area many call home. 

Written notices from the agency, in both English and Spanish, have been posted all over the levee, especially on the Monterey County side where most residents are living. The notices inform levee residents that any items left behind will be removed, and advise them to “start planning and utilize support services.” Some notices were posted on people’s shelters, others were attached to branches and trees by tape. Residents will be given a formal 72-hour notice from law enforcement to vacate the levee starting at the end of the week. 

The nonprofit and other service providers have been working diligently to connect residents to services and figure out next steps before the sweeps begin next week, said Aimee Ramirez, CAB’s operational manager for a 34-unit “tiny village” shelter now under construction at Westview Presbyterian Church in Watsonville.

The plans for the shelter are bittersweet, she said — sweet because some unhoused residents will soon have a place to go, bitter because the shelter won’t be ready until December and some levee residents don’t have a clear plan for where they’re going to live until then once the sweeps begin.

“Some people, naturally, don’t have a plan, and they are taking it minute by minute,” Ramirez said. She adds that it’s common for people to not be willing to leave the area despite the pending sweeps because they would rather stay in a place that feels familiar to them.

Ramirez anticipates many of the levee residents — who primarily seek support services in Watsonville — will begin to trickle into the city, seeking refuge in different areas. She hopes that city officials are ready to address the potential influx of unhoused people within the area. Earlier this month, the annual point-in-time count showed a 50% decrease in people experiencing homelessness in Watsonville — a stark difference from last year. 

María Luisa Corvera Marroquín, a longtime levee resident, was one of the people Community Action Board’s team checked in with during their visit to the area Wednesday morning. Corvera Marroquín’s biggest worry is figuring out where she can take her numerous animals — three chickens, six cats and a baby chick that she just received. 

“My worry isn’t really much about me, it’s more about them,” Corvera Marroquín said in Spanish, gesturing toward her cats crawling around her, and the baby chick on her shoulder. She added that she wouldn’t be able to sleep comfortably not knowing if her animals would be safe and cared for. 

Over the years, Corvera Marroquín has raised all kinds of animals on the levee, like cats, dogs, opossums, chickens and a goat. Much like other residents along the levee, Corvera Marroquín’s animals are her family. 

Corvera Marroquín told Lookout she hopes to stay with a friend who manages Mi Rancho Restaurant in Pajaro, located just a few streets away from where she’s located on the levee. She’s built quite a relationship with the business, helping clean up the restaurant in exchange for food, Corvera Marroquín said. 

She plans to clear out of the levee before the sweeps begin next week, primarily out of concern for her animals and the possibility of them being taken away from her. SPCA Monterey County has already started to patrol around the levee in preparation for next week’s cleanup. 

“They’ve taken away my cats before,” Corvera Marroquín said. She also recalls her goat being taken from her when sweeps were conducted on the Watsonville side of the river last year. “How can I leave them?” she said. 

Ramirez told Lookout that she and her team are “going hard” these next few days leading up to the sweeps. The outreach team has been visiting different sections of the levee to ensure they connect with people. 

“People are overwhelmed,” said Ramirez. “We also want to give them space to process.” When someone is in a position where they don’t know where they are going, and have stayed in one place for so long that’s being taken away, Ramirez said, that’s a big shift. 

Come Monday morning, Ramirez told Lookout that CAB’s main goal is to be a support system for residents. The nonprofit will help residents decide which belongings are worth taking in the heat of the moment. Ramirez also made clear that CAB will not be removing belongings from people’s shelters during the process. 

The sweeps are going to be hard on residents, Ramirez said. The nonprofit is preparing for Monday, and taking it one step at a time. 

“It’s going to be chaotic,” she said. “When you’re in that moment and you see bulldozers coming, you see sheriffs coming, dogs are going to start barking, people are going to start screaming.” 

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