Homeless Encampment Clean-Up Program

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

Homeless crisis affects numerous government facilities including flood control facilities such as channels, basins, and rivers. Maintenance of these facilities are governed by the environmental regulatory agencies. Trash and debris from illegal homeless encampments present potential for environmental concerns in addition to the safety of the homeless living in these facilities. As a test case, City Creek in the Highland area is an unimproved flood control facility at the base of the foothills and had a large homeless community living under trees and brush. The encampment presented National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and other environmental concerns and needed to be relocated and the debris cleaned up before the upcoming storms washed them downstream. The San Bernardino County Flood Control District (District) coordinated with representatives from surrounding jurisdictions, as well as, regulatory agencies to respond to these concerns. In January 2019, the site was cleaned of approximately 15 camps and 50 tons of trash. This type of multi-agency coordination represents intergovernmental cooperation and coordination in addressing shared problems.