Modesto closes Dry Creek and Tuolumne River parks over flooding, erosion concerns

Modesto has closed its parks along Dry Creek and the Tuolumne River because of flooding and erosion and the anticipation of more rain this week.

The city announced the closures Tuesday afternoon on Facebook.

The National Weather Service expects Modesto could get as much as 3 inches of rain Wednesday and Thursday, but the area will be under a high-wind advisory both days, with gusts of as much as 40 mph Wednesday and 46 mph Thursday.

High water from the weekend storm damaged the bank along Dry Creek at East La Loma Park in Modesto, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023.

City spokeswoman Diana Ruiz-Del Re said the closures were done as a precaution to protect residents from the potential of trees and tree limbs falling in the storm.

Modesto may close more parks as this latest storm progresses, according to the Facebook post.

Residents can report fallen city trees, branches and limbs by calling the city at 209-342-2253. This number is staffed 24 hours a day, including weekends and holidays.

“Depending on the circumstances, the call may prompt … on-call staff to be called in to handle the issue,” Ruiz-Del Re said in an email. “If it is a nonemergency, the information will be provided to staff to follow up during business hours.”

Modesto has not had the funding to trim and maintain its trees in a timely manner, leading to trees and tree limbs and branches falling and damaging parked cars, the roofs of homes and other private property.

But Ruiz-Del Re said the city spent $1.8 million in federal pandemic relief funding in 2021-22 on its urban forestry. She said the one-time spending paid for the removal of mistletoe from 1,600 trees, the removal of 800 tree stumps, the planting of 800 trees and the removal of 957 trees.

She said the forestry division work has made a difference and that as of Tuesday afternoon, the division had handled fewer calls than expected in the recent storms.

East La Loma Park has been closed because of flooding and erosion and the anticipation of more rain this week.  Photographed in Modesto, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023.

East La Loma Park has been closed because of flooding and erosion and the anticipation of more rain this week. Photographed in Modesto, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023.

On New Year's Day, Modesto police and park rangers closed the vehicle gate to East La Loma Park and were asking park users to leave — or at least stay far from Dry Creek — because the high, fast-moving water was eroding the banks in some spots.

On New Year’s Day, Modesto police and park rangers closed the vehicle gate to East La Loma Park and were asking park users to leave — or at least stay far from Dry Creek — because the high, fast-moving water was eroding the banks in some spots.

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