Expert: Dan Griffin - 8/1/2008

Question
have you ever heard the term california drain if so what is it?

Answer
Mark, you got me. I do not know the name California drain.

There are many things in the trades that use the term California, like a  california corner, which eliminates one stud in a corner assembly.  It usually implies cheaper and faster, probably from the huge housing booms back when.

A French drain (named for a man named French, not the country) provides  drainage by using tile and gravel to allow water to be routed away from an area.

A drywell is a term I use for digging a deep hole, think pier drilling machine, and filling it with gravel to allow surface or subsurface water or a French drain to get down to a more porous water bearing strata to move it away.  It can be quite effective.

I don't know that either works for your term.

It may be a reference to those huge open concrete storm drains that they use in the movies to race cars, etc.  Think Terminator.