West Wikiup Preserve Foot Bridge and Culvert Replacement Emergency Project

The project is located on the Mark West Wikiup Preserve, which was formerly the Wikiup Golf Course. The 30-acre Preserve will be utilized in perpetuity as a park and open space. An existing collapsed footbridge over a drainage, previously used by golf carts to access the former First Tee, requires immediate repair. The original culvert appears to have burned away during the Tubbs fire, a disaster that prompted an Emergency Proclamation from California Governor Jerry Brown. The fire left only unsupported asphalt over the drainage. Consequently, the vertical banks beneath the asphalt are eroding the hillside drainage that flows directly into Mark West Creek, which contains critical habitat for salmon species protected under the California and federal Endangered Species Acts. In addition to sedimentation from the active erosion of the drainage banks, the drainage carries flow from the steep hillsides upstream during storm events. The active erosion and sedimentation may be worsened by the Super El Niño this winter. This pre-existing disaster damage is now directly threatened by a second disaster condition. On September 21, 2026, Governor Gavin Newsom issued a Statewide Emergency Proclamation due to a historic potential for a Super El Niño to occur this winter. Given the forecasted high precipitation and resulting high flow conditions, there is an urgent need to mitigate further damage to essential public infrastructure and prevent severe downstream sedimentation in the Mark West Creek habitat. The emergency project activities include removing the asphalt and debris, pulling back vertical slopes from adjacent drainage areas to stabilize the site and prevent further collapse, replacing the original culvert, and trimming selective vegetation in the area. Following installation, the drainage slopes will be hydroseeded with a native erosion control mix appropriate for riparian habitat.