Homeless encampments near Escondido Creek off Harmony Grove are known by some as "the jungle."
More than 60 people who've been living there just called it "home" until Monday morning, when the area was swept after the city declared a local state of emergency.
On Sunday, the city of Escondido said it is "taking decisive action to address significant environmental and public health concerns.''
The emergency proclamation will enable personnel to address risks posed by contamination in the creek bed area, ensuring the health of residents and safeguarding natural resources, according to officials.
A recent water quality test conducted by the city showed elevated bacteria populations that included, "Coliform bacteria two to three times higher than generally acceptable standards for safe and sanitary human contact, Enterococcus bacteria levels generally seven to 14 higher than acceptable standards for human contact. And one location near an encampment showed an Enterococcus population over 23 times the acceptable standard."
Late Monday, the city council ratified the declaration and authorized $4 million from the general fund to deal with health and environmental risks in the area. The money will be used to build a new, tall fence and to restore the creek's habitat.
A copy of the emergency proclamation can be viewed here.
Service providers set up tents to offer resources as the encampments were cleared out Monday morning.
"No one's going to get any help. No one's going to get off the street. They're just putting everyone that has made a home here and putting them back on the street," said Angela Grell.
She had been living in the encampment for six months and called the area safe. She was frustrated over the shortfall of resources from the providers.
"They gave us a couple of days notice to get out of our homes that we've built over the last few months. And it's not right because there is no shelter. There isn't a place to put us," she said. "They have like some ... goldfish crackers and water … You're not going to help everybody."
Sixty-four people were warned the encampment would be cleared out, but on sweep day, only 15 shelter beds were available.
"Unfortunately, the math just indicates that they're going to be more people unsheltered in different parts of our community because we just don't have places for them to go," said Greg Anglea, the CEO of Interfaith Community Services.
They are one of the service providers being deployed to help the displaced community.
"I don't think anyone wants to see anyone living in encampments. And so it's important that we provide resources for people to exit those encampments into safe locations. And so we're working closely with the city, with a whole bunch of other partners today, to get as many people connected to those resources as possible," he said. "But unfortunately, there are not enough resources for the amount of people who are being displaced today."
Anglea said Interfaith will be seeing an expansion of their detox beds, but that won't happen until February.
Storage facilities were being offered for the belongings of the unhoused group.
On Monday, the City Council will meet to ratify a proclamation and request $4 million from city reserves to address the public health and environmental risks of the water conditions in the Escondido Creek.
Fencing will be installed to prevent further damage and contamination, while vegetation and debris will be removed to help restore environmental health, officials said.
A second phase of cleanup will be conducted once the fencing is in place, according to a statement from the city.
"This is not an overnight process,'' Deputy City Manager Chris McKinney said in a statement. "While you will see progress, ratifying the emergency order, securing necessary resources, and connecting people with support services are essential first steps before fencing or other remediation efforts can begin.''
City officials also said they were sensitive to the needs of the local homeless population.
"We understand the sensitivity of this issue, especially during the holiday season,'' City Manager Sean McGlynn said. "Our goal is to balance urgent environmental, public health and safety needs with empathy for those impacted by these actions.''
