Merced County pushes forward with long-delayed flood control project
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on March 2, 2010 at 7:11 amFrom the Merced Sun-Star:
“A flood control program for Merced County that was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1944 is still incomplete.
To this day, there’s no flood control structure at Black Rascal Creek to keep the destructive waters from flowing into homes, as they did in 2006.
That work has been stalled because the flood control project has been under evaluation with the Army Corps of Engineers since the late 1990s.
Last week, to move the project forward, the county signed a $95,000 consultant contract with Peterson Brustad, Inc., a company that provides engineering services on water projects.
“They have a very long success record of helping agencies, who, for various reasons, just can’t finish a project,” said Kellie Jacobs, an administrative engineer for Merced County. “This is what they do. And that’s not what we do full time.” … “
Read more from the Merced Sun-Star by clicking here.
L.A. County Flood Control District faces state fines
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 23, 2010 at 5:57 amFrom the Los Angeles Times:
“The Los Angeles County Flood Control District faces a state fine of almost $275,000 for allegedly allowing bacterial pollution to flow into the harbor at Marina del Rey for more than two years, officials said Monday.
The staff of the Los Angeles region of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a complaint against the district Feb. 18, recommending $274,896 in fines.
The board, part of the California Environmental Protection Agency, cited 186 violations from 2007 to 2009 of the district’s storm water permit, which was issued in accordance with federal and state clean-water standards.
The state water board is scheduled to vote May 17 on the complaint. The panel can modify the fine, reject it or let it stand.
The regulatory action and fine are precedent-setting, said Samuel Unger, the water board’s assistant executive officer and principal engineer. Previous storm drainage complaints typically dealt with industrial or construction discharges, Unger said. … “
Read more from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.
Spouting Off blog: flood protection is no excuse to violate the Clean Water Act and other environmental laws
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 10, 2010 at 8:06 amFrom the Spouting Off blog:
“Last Thursday, the Regional Water Board voted to approve a Waste Discharge Requirement (WDR) for the Los Angeles County Nature Control District’s “channel maintenance” activity. After all, to the County, our LA, Santa Clara and San Gabriel Rivers are flood control channels, not living ecosystems and habitats.
Don’t get me wrong, the need for flood control and debris management is enormous as demonstrated in the aftermath of the Station Fire and the flooding in San Pedro and Long Beach. But flood protection is no excuse to violate the Clean Water Act and other environmental laws.
By law (and common sense), habitat destruction must result in mitigation of lost habitat. This is how the Coastal Commission has implemented the coastal Act and the Coastal Zone Management Act for nearly 35 years, but this is not what happens when stream and river habitat are destroyed in the name of flood control. … “
Continue reading this post at the Spouting Off blog by clicking here.
Reno: Army mistake delays congressional OK for Truckee River flood control project
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 6, 2010 at 6:50 amFrom the Reno Gazette-Journal:
“Errors made while rushing through a flood plan for the Truckee River will delay congressional approval by another year, possibly endangering Reno and Sparks with more floods before the project is ever built, officials say.
The delay until 2012 of federal authorization of the Truckee River Flood Project is the latest in a series for the long-discussed flood-control effort, designed to prevent disasters like the flood of January 1997.
As a result, officials said, the Truckee Meadows and its residents remain in danger.
“This keeps moving back,” said Ron Smith, a Sparks councilman who serves on a local coalition pursuing the flood project. “We’ve got a lot of risk out there and this is unacceptable.” … “
Read more from the Reno Gazette-Journal by clicking here.
Commonwealth Club: Keeping Katrina out of California
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on January 29, 2010 at 3:38 pmFrom the Commonwealth Club:
County wrestles with federal officials over Orick flood maps
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on January 8, 2010 at 7:34 amFrom the Eureka Times Standard:
“Humboldt County is pushing federal emergency officials to take another look at draft flood maps that project the little town of Orick will be under water during big floods, which threatens to force property owners to buy insurance.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency in August aired the new maps to Orick, dramatically changing earlier predictions that a 100-year flood — or one that occurs statistically once every 100 years — on Redwood Creek would be contained by its 1960s-era levees. Landowners are now scrambling to buy flood insurance before the maps become final, so they can buy at lower rates.
But the Humboldt County Department of Public Works told FEMA in a recent letter that it has found significant deficiencies in the technical review by the agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It’s asking that FEMA forgo pulling the levees’ accreditation until it can improve its information and redo its analysis.
”We don’t want special treatment,” said Public Works Environmental Services Manager Hank Seemann. “We just want accurate information that we can give to landowners.” … “
Read more from the Eureka Times Standard by clicking here.
Southern California homeowners forced to buy flood insurance after FEMA redraws maps
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on January 5, 2010 at 6:45 amFrom the Los Angeles Times:
“Tens of thousands of homeowners in Southern California are being forced to buy costly flood insurance because new maps issued by a federal agency say they live in a high-risk flood area.
The federal government has informed property owners in more than 150 cities and unincorporated areas in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties about the new requirement. Most live near rivers and creeks, below dams or in low- lying areas that are at greater risk of flooding than previously believed, according to maps developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Premiums range from $500 to more than $1,700 a year. Insurance is mandatory for anyone with a federally backed mortgage, and lenders will typically buy policies, sometimes at a higher cost, for property owners who fail to do so on their own. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own or guarantee more than half of all U.S. mortgages.
Angry homeowners in several parts of Southern California dispute the new maps and have formed groups to challenge them. … “
Read more from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.
‘Back to nature’ cuts flood risks says US scientists
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 31, 2009 at 8:00 am
From BBC News:
“Reconnecting flood-plains to rivers will help reduce the risk of future flooding, suggest US scientists.
A study by US researchers said allowing these areas to be submerged during storms would reduce the risk of flood damage in nearby urban areas. Pressure to build new homes has led to many flood-prone areas being developed.
Writing in Science, they said the risks of flooding were likely to increase in the future as a result of climate change and shifts in land use.
“We are advocating very large-scale shifts in land use,” said co-author Jeffrey Opperman, a member of The Nature Conservancy’s Global Freshwater Team.
“There is simply no way economically or politically that this could be accomplished by turning large areas of flood-plains into parks,” he told the Science podcast. … “
Read more from the BBC News by clicking here.
Picture courtesy of California Department of Water Resources.
The Oh Decade: ‘Katrina Effect’ helped bolster flood defenses in California
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 29, 2009 at 8:13 amFrom the Sacramento Bee:
“In August 2005, millions of Californians stood in stunned silence in front of their television sets. Before them were images of New Orleans submerged in water, with desperate people clinging to rooftops.
More than 1,800 people died during Hurricane Katrina and the floods it unleashed. It was the deadliest U.S. hurricane in more than a half century, and it brought home the risks of living behind levees.
Twice following Katrina, I traveled to New Orleans, first as a reporter and then as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. Along with my wife, I spent two weeks clearing out people’s homes that the floodwaters had inundated.
Unless you’ve been flooded yourself, it’s difficult to comprehend the heartbreak. Imagine your most prized possessions – photo albums, works of art – smothered in mud and mold.
Katrina was both a natural and a man-made disaster, and in California, it had special resonance.
Many communities here – from Sacramento to Stockton to canyon neighborhoods in Southern California – face a threat of deep flooding. … “
Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
Rebuttal to SacBee editorial: Sacramento mayor has taken lead in addressing flood control
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 25, 2009 at 8:55 amFrom the Sacramento Bee, this commentary by Jeffrey M. Pemstein, division manager of Towne Development of Sacramento.:
“The Bee’s editorial “Mayor’s first year a work in progress” (Editorials, Dec. 20), said Mayor Kevin Johnson “has shown meager direct interest in the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, creating a leadership vacuum at SAFCA at a time when rapid levee improvements are essential for this city’s public safety and economy.”
I disagree. Serving as the mayor’s adviser on flood control for the past year, my experience in flood issues includes 15 years working on levee issues in the Natomas basin, assisting with the levee improvements in the Plumas Lake portion of Yuba County, and my ongoing participation with the Floodplain Managers Association, the California Department of Water Resources Flood Safe Program and the California Building Industry Association-Flood Control Task Force. … “
Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
California Conservation Corps prepares to fight floods
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 9, 2009 at 7:51 amFrom the Santa Cruz Sentinel:
“WATSONVILLE — If filling sandbags isn’t exactly an art, there is a science to it.
The latest class of California Conservation Corps members from Watsonville learned the how to’s of flood protection Tuesday at Sunset State Beach.
The lesson may come in handy. Two years ago, Corps teams from Watsonville were first on scene when the San Joaquin River threatened the Central Valley town of Firebaugh.
“They saved the town,” said Rick Burnett, flood fight specialist for the state Department of Water Resources.
So what is the best way to sandbag? … “
Read more from the Santa Cruz Sentinel by clicking here.
Storm to test Southern California debris basins
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 4, 2009 at 5:46 amFrom the Los Angeles Times:
“With four days of rain forecast for Southern California beginning Sunday night, the best defense against mudslides and flooding in areas burned during the Station fire is a network of 29 debris basins scattered around foothill communities.
During most years, residents have little reason to think about the basins. But the Station fire, the largest in Los Angeles County’s recorded history, has left charred hillsides that federal officials say pose an extreme mudslide risk if the area gets sustained rains.
Officials say the man-made bowls have become crucial to catching boulders, timber and heavy mud that otherwise might head toward homes.
“The debris basins are our front line of defense,” said Arthur Vander Vis, a principal engineer in the county Department of Public Works’ Flood Maintenance Division. … “
Read more from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.
If there’s repeat of 1997 flood then criminal charges may be in order, says editorial
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 1, 2009 at 5:59 amFrom The Manteca Bulletin, this editorial:
“Warm winter weather in December sandwiched between Sierra snow fall isn’t a good sign.
It was 13 years ago next month when the same conditions conspired to cause $80 million worth of property losses that included 500 homes that were either damaged or destroyed in the rural area between Manteca and Tracy.
There was a heavy snow pack put in place with a series of mid-December winter storms that followed a warm November. Then, the last week of December, things warmed up again. It hadn’t rained in the valley for weeks. When the first levee failed that first week of January, it was in the high 60s under sunny skies although the San Joaquin River was swelled with extremely early Sierra run-off that brought it to 34 feet or almost five feet above flood stage. … “
Read more from The Manteca Bulletin by clicking here.
New flood awareness campaign set to launch
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 12, 2009 at 12:43 pmFrom the Silicon Valley Mercury News, this commentary by Richard Santos, District 3 Representative, Santa Clara Valley Water District:
“As a lifelong resident of Alviso, I know firsthand the devastation that can result from flooding. That is why I am pleased to announce that this November the Santa Clara Valley Water District will be launching a flood awareness campaign. While the water district has had campaigns in years past, this one will be different.
To bring a fresh approach to raising flood awareness in the county, the district has chosen an iconic character to be the campaign’s spokesperson, or should I say a spokeschicken. That’s right, “Chicken Little” is back and this time he brought his umbrella.
Now known as Charles, the once panicky bird is a little wiser and more mature. He knows that the Santa Clara Valley Water District is working to help prevent flood damage by repairing creek banks, removing sediment and restoring levees. And so long as you follow the flood safety tips, there’s no reason to panic during flood season.
The campaign will feature radio and web ads as well as a new feature, SMS messaging, which will allow county residents to receive flood alerts via text message. The water district’s school education program will also bring the campaign into classrooms. Since the audience is diverse, the media mix will include Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese language ads. …”
Read the rest of Richard Santos’ commentary by clicking here.
Before the Flood: The U.S. spends billions on levees, but river flooding still causes havoc across the country; Vermont has a better way
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 26, 2009 at 7:58 am
From Miller-McCune:
“Mike Kline ambles across the highway atop the Park Street Bridge, toward the guardrail overlooking the Roaring Branch River. It’s early summer, long after Vermont’s mountain snow has melted, so the sometimes-mighty waterway is now just a stream piddling between tree-lined banks and stony riprap.
Though I can barely hear the river above the buzzing motorcycles, Kline tells me locals dubbed it the Roaring Branch for a reason: During storms, huge boulders barrel down the river, slamming against each other to produce a thunderous sound. The boulders and sediment move with so much force, they alter the landscape overnight. “It’s actually kind of scary because it’s so powerful,” says Kari Dolan, one of two Vermont River Management Program staffers along for the ride.
Kline has brought me to Bennington to illustrate what this river — with the help of human stupidity and millions of dollars — has wrought: an island. …”
What is the point of all of this?
” … Bennington’s flood-threatened bridge is a prime example of a glaring but barely addressed problem: America’s rivers flood, and in trying to protect against the threat, Americans and their governments actually make the floods worse. As a result, each year billions of dollars and several lives are lost, with many more upended. Though climate change is intensifying the crisis, at its root are outdated science, leadership deficits, decisions that prize short-term profit above all and the misguided belief that man can indefinitely restrain something as powerful and relentless as water. …”
Read more from Miller-McCune by clicking here.
Foiling water’s fury: Agencies are developing a drill similar to the earthquake Shakeout training
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 19, 2009 at 7:48 am
From the Riverside Press-Enterprise:
“It’s hard to imagine, after several years of drought, that California could be hit by a massive super storm that would trigger floods, mudslides and debris flows and test the preparedness of Inland emergency responders.
But such a scenario has happened before and will happen again, say federal scientists who are crafting plans for dealing with such a disaster.
Their planning scenario is based on deadly storms that unleashed their fury on the Inland area in 1969. After back-to-back onslaughts that winter, residents were isolated when bridges, roads and houses washed away in cascading rivers. Homes and businesses filled with mud, electricity was out for weeks and there were at least 13 local deaths among more than 100 fatalities across Southern California. …”
Read more from Riverside’s Press-Enterprise by clicking here.
Commentary: Ensuring San Bernardino County’s water supply
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 18, 2009 at 7:53 amFrom the San Bernardino Sun, this commentary by San Bernardino County Supervisors Gary Ovitt and Paul Biane:
“At the next meeting of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, we plan to bring a resolution to establish a Storm Water Task Force. The purpose of this task force is as simple as it is important.
We want to ensure that our county’s flood control operations combine the historical flood control model of capturing storm water and moving it away from populated areas with a new model designed to increase local water supplies, improve water quality, and help minimize the need to purchase an increasingly costly commodity – imported water.
Let us explain our plan and our reasons for it.
Historically, flood control had one purpose – to protect residents from floods and runoff by directing storm water to flood control channels and safely sending water downstream to the Santa Ana River and the Pacific Ocean. In 2006, more than 600,000 acre feet of storm water flowed from our county to the ocean. …”
Click here to read more of this commentary.
Matsui secures $86.5 million for critical Sacramento flood protection projects; House passes FY 2010 Energy and Water Conference Report
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 1, 2009 at 4:04 pmFrom the website of Congresswoman Doris Matsui:
“Today, the House of Representatives passed the Conference Report for the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010, which will provide $86.5 million in federal funding for Sacramento flood protection projects, reflecting the priorities put forward by Congresswoman Doris O. Matsui (CA-05) on behalf of her constituents. The large infusion of federal funds will go a long way to increase Sacramento’s protection against flooding as we move toward our goal of 200-year flood protection.
“Sacramento is the most at-risk river city in the country. This funding bill clearly demonstrates that our flood protection projects are a national priority,” stated Representative Matsui. “I have fought extremely hard for the last year to ensure these projects are fully funded, and am proud to announce that we have secured an additional $27 million more than last year. Especially at a time when state and local budgets are shrinking, it is imperative that federal money continues to flow into the region, and that we do not lose any time toward achieving our flood protection goals.”
Rep. Matsui has been instrumental in making Sacramento flood protection a priority in Congress and securing federal funding for local projects. A long-time champion for Sacramento’s flood protection priorities, Congresswoman Matsui believes that today’s passage of the Energy and Water Conference Report is an important step in the right direction. Rep. Matsui also acknowledges that there is still much work to be done to reach 200-year flood protection for the region.
The Conference Report adopted today now goes to the Senate for final approval, and is anticipated to pass as early as next week. It will then be sent to President Obama to be signed into law. …”
Find out the details by clicking here.
Visalia may see cost cut on flood insurance
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 27, 2009 at 6:57 amFrom the Fresno Bee:
“Visalia homeowners who buy flood insurance can look forward to lower premiums if the city gets lucky with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It wouldn’t be a huge cut — 5% or 10%.
But with flood insurance rising in June to $849 a year for a $250,000 home, every little bit helps. FEMA, which sets flood insurance rates, has a discount program for homeowners in communities that show they’re flood-ready.
Visalia city engineer Chris Young seemed confident that Visalia would qualify for a 5% discount, and probably 10%. The city will submit an application. …”
Read more from the Fresno Bee by clicking here.
Oxnard residents dispute flood-risk forecast; Those facing steep insurance costs criticize map
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 31, 2009 at 12:44 pmFrom the Ventura County Star:
“Michael Bisnett is familiar with numbers, regressions and probabilities, but that’s what troubles him about the predictions of how much water could flow down the Santa Clara River if the county is hit by a so-called “100-year flood.”
“There’s all these assumptions in there and I just don’t think you should make a $32 million bet on those kinds of assumptions,” said Bisnett, an Oxnard resident who is also a senior field engineer.
Bisnett was referring to his estimate of what flood insurance might cost over 10 years for the affected residents.
He’s leading a group of homeowners trying to get local leaders and federal authorities to reconsider the new Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map, completed earlier this year. The map includes 1,700 Oxnard properties in the 100-year flood zone, showing where water might go in an extreme flood that has a 1 percent chance of happening in any given year, or once every century. …”
Read more from the Ventura County Star by clicking here.
Pajaro River levee project lands $5 million state grant
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 1, 2009 at 6:38 amFrom the Mercury News:
“A $5 million boost from the new state budget is expected to get a long-delayed flood control project along the Pajaro River on track for construction in as little as two years.
The project, in the works since a levee break during a storm in 1995 devastated the town of Pajaro and surrounding farmland, is designed to replace an aging levee system on the Pajaro and two of its tributaries, Salsipuedes and Corralitos creeks. “That’s the best news,” said Lorraine Stucki, a resident of a senior neighborhood near Salsipuedes Creek and longtime advocate of the levee upgrade. “I was becoming disenchanted. I thought I would never live long enough to see a project.”
Insufficient federal funding has stalled the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer project in the design and evaluation stage for the past few years. Construction appeared to be at least five years away.
Bruce Laclergue, the county flood control program manager, said the funding will be used to complete the evaluations required before construction. “Once you’re competing for construction dollars, it’s easier to get than general investigation dollars,” Laclergue said. …”
Read more from the Mercury News by clicking here.
House passes Matsui flood protection legislation: Matsui bill provides clarity of flood zone designations for Natomas, communities across the country
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 31, 2009 at 7:27 amFrom the website of Congresswoman Doris Matsui:
The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation today introduced by Congresswoman Doris O. Matsui (D-Sacramento) that provides technical changes to flood zone designations, which will help the Sacramento region move closer toward our goal of reaching 200-year flood protection.
“My legislation will ensure public safety remains our first and foremost goal, while assisting communities that are modernizing their existing flood protection systems by giving them definable milestones to meet,” said Rep. Matsui. “It provides a number of technical changes such as updating current law to take local, state and federal funding into account when determining flood zone designations. H.R. 1525 will give communities clarity to help them restore or improve their flood protection systems, and will make a tremendous difference for the people of Sacramento, and communities like ours across the country.”
After working for many months with local and state flood protection officials, Congresswoman Matsui introduced legislation, H.R. 1525, that would clarify the criteria for an A-99 flood zone designation. This legislation was added to H.R. 3139 on the House floor today and passed by unanimous consent. While ensuring public safety remains the first and foremost goal, this bill will assist communities that are in the midst of modernizing their existing flood protection systems by updating current law to take local, state and federal funding into account when determining designations, without removing the federal government’s responsibility to fund flood protection projects.
Scientists plot and prepare for Noah’s Ark-like floods in California
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 27, 2009 at 7:54 amFrom the Long Beach Press Telegram:
First come the wildfires. Then the extended cloudbursts. Then the furies of mud, rock and debris that roar out of the San Gabriel foothills. And in the floods’ wake, every few decades, rage death and destruction across Southern California.
“The debris flows, reported as mud slides, pick up speed like a waterborne avalanche coming down off the mountains — moving at 40 miles per hour picking up boulders like minivans and sweeping into the city,” said Lucy Jones, chief scientist for the Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project at the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena. “In (1934 and) 1978 it happened in La Crescenta…and it’ll happen again.”
California may be caught in the throes of a years-long drought, but Jones and other crisis experts are now planning for a flood of Noah’s Ark proportions.
Read more from the Long Beach Press Telegram by clicking here.
Detention basins could solve I-80 flooding
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 15, 2009 at 6:54 amFrom the Daily Republic:
One or two Suisun Valley detention basins might help solve the periodic flooding problems at Interstate 80 in Fairfield — but only if properly designed. The Solano Transportation Authority Board last week voted to spend $300,000 to study the situation. Of that, $100,000 will come from the Solano County Water Agency and $200,000 from regional bridge toll money.
Among the unknowns is whether Suisun Valley property owners would allow a detention basin of a yet-to-be-determined size on their land. The study by Mark Thomas/Nolte Joint Venture is to come first. “It’s kind of a chicken-and-egg thing,” SCWA General Manager David Okita said Monday. “We need to find out if detention basins work before we go knocking on the doors of potential property owners.”
Local I-80 last flooded during the New Year’s Eve storm of Dec. 31, 2005, and early January 2006. Suisun Valley received about six inches of water within four days that ended up in creeks flowing toward I-80. Water shut down the freeway near West Texas Street for almost a day and flooded dozens of homes in the area.
Read more from the Daily Republic by clicking here.
Creekside residents in Novato desperate for solution to erosion as storm season wipes out property
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 23, 2009 at 7:29 am
From the Marin Independent Journal:
During the rainy season, Novato Creek has a voracious appetite, taking Volkswagen-sized bites out of people’s backyards in the swirling aftermath of each storm. Gerry and Glenna Godwin have lost one-third of their backyard, including a 13.2-ton bay tree, to the creek off Marion Court. Cracks in their patio – ominous signs of further erosion – creep within four feet of their house.
A mile away, Mary Page’s backyard near Miwok Park is hanging precariously over the now-calm creek waters. In the winter, it’s like a punching bag for a chocolate-brown heavyweight champion that could be called the Novato River, complete with whitecaps.
Who is responsible for preventing such erosion? In some cases, it’s Marin County and its flood control district. In others, it is the city’s public works department. But most of the time, in a legal sense, it’s the property owners fending for themselves.
“I’m at a standstill because financially I can’t afford to do anything,” Page said. “It has grown to be a much bigger project than it was originally. I’m fed up.”
Read more from the Marin Independent Journal by clicking here.
Flood Management Tour shows participants real world solutions to California’s flood issues
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 22, 2009 at 7:48 amThe Water Education Foundation’s Rebecca Scott recaps the happenings on the recent Flood Management Tour:
Every conversation lately has revolved around the words “drought” and “conservation,” so the idea of large amounts of uncontrollable water may be far from the mind, but the reality of the fragile levee system and the menacing threat of floods in the Sacramento Valley is an ever-present critical issue that needs to be addressed now rather than later. The reality is oh so clear when you are driving on a levee looking down at the home of a family in Yuba County that lost their family member in the 1997 Feather River levee break.
The Foundation’s Flood Management Tour was May 7-8, and it focused on looking at the flood management system in the Sacramento Valley and the Delta. When organizing this tour, I had several people ask why in the world we were having a tour about floods in the middle of a drought. The answer could be shocking to some. It’s time to remove your head from the clouds: We live in a state
where 90 percent of natural disasters are flood related, and Sacramento and the Delta have the highest risk of flooding in the country. We are dealing with the Delta’s 1,100 miles of levees; subsidence, where land behind some of these levees is more than 20 feet below sea level; sea level rise; climate change and earthquake risk. If you see a levee just as a nice place to ride your bike on a warm day, you should have been on this tour because the projects and funding that are involved in keeping the levees structurally sound – and you from swimming – is unbelievable. I never knew that repairing a mile of levee could cost millions of dollars. Here is a recap of the sites we visited and just a few things we learned on this eye-opening tour.
Contra Costa County’s flood plain area could be expanded
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 2, 2009 at 6:49 amFrom the Contra Costa Times:
About 200 homeowners in unincorporated Contra Costa County received courtesy letters last month recommending they buy flood insurance — even though they do not live in a flood plain. What gives? A federal agency messed up its maps, according to a county report.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will also begin enforcing strict levee guidelines that could put all of North Richmond in a federal flood plain, forcing homeowners to buy costly flood insurance.
FEMA’s not just for hurricane country, evidently: Nearly four years after Hurricane Katrina, Contra Costa and other local jurisdictions, far from any hurricane eyes, are still dealing with the bureaucratic storm surge.
Two deadlines fast approach:
# On June 16, new digital maps outlining federal flood plains will be finalized.
# On July 24, owners must certify levees on those maps at strict federal standards.Contra Costa supervisors will hear a report on the implications today. The county is dealing only with unincorporated areas, but all counties and cities nationwide must hit deadlines or face repercussions.
Read more from the Contra Costa Times by clicking here.
County, Chico in talks on levee pact
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 6, 2009 at 7:35 amFrom the Chico Enterprise-Record:
Whether Chicoans can be spared from having to buy flood insurance for land that has never seen a flood, may depend on discussions between city and county officials.
Tuesday, the city of Chico formally asked the county to join it in signing a “PAL agreement” with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. PAL refers to “provisionally accredited levee,” and it ties into FEMA’s current effort to map all potential flood plains in the nation.
By the end of this month FEMA is supposed to have preliminary flood maps for Butte County ready. The maps are supposed to identify locales subject to a “1 percent” flood. This is a flood that can be expected to hit an area once every 100 years.
In areas protected by levees, such as the levees along the Sycamore and Mud creek drainages north and east of Chico, FEMA must be persuaded the levees will survive the 1 percent event. If that proof is not forthcoming, the agency will draw its flood maps as if the levees didn’t exist.
People with property in these newly anointed flood plains may well have to buy costly flood insurance. Significant restrictions are imposed on what sort of development can take place in these areas.
Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record by clicking here.
Sacramento to get stimulus funds for flood-control
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 29, 2009 at 7:52 amFrom the Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento is getting another $21 million in federal economic stimulus funds for flood-control projects.
The largest share of the new funding, $14 million, will help pay for flood-safety improvements at 96 locations in the area, including slurry wall sections on the American River, a closure structure at Mayhew Drain, and modification of the Natomas Cross Canal flood warning system.
Another $4 million will go toward 3,000 feet of levee improvements on the South Sacramento streams project, while $3 million funds restoration of 55 acres of oak and riparian habitat along the American River, required as part of Folsom Dam improvements.
Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
Restore the Delta calls on local, state and federal political leaders to make flood protection a priority for restoration of the Delta
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 8, 2009 at 7:25 amFrom Restore the Delta, this press release:
Stockton, California — Restore the Delta, a Delta- based coalition including Delta farmers, environmentalists, everyday citizens, fishermen, business leaders, the faith community, and recreation enthusiasts, is calling on local, state, and federal political leaders to take broad actions to protect and restore the Sacrament-San Joaquin Delta in accordance with American Rivers findings that the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is the nation’s most endangered river system.
Restore the Delta Campaign Director Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla explains, “The American Rivers report released today notes that outdated flood management practices, the 1600 miles of levees that boarder the San Joaquin and Sacramento River, prevent rivers from spilling over into flood plains. Restore the Delta maintains that restoration of flood plains could become the most environmentally sound way to store water for agricultural uses throughout the state, thereby reducing the demand for water exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. A permanent and significant reduction in Delta water exports could help to improve Delta water quality and improve fisheries. We are calling on involved political leaders to advocate for flood management programs that will simultaneously protect people and grow our state water supply.”
As noted in the American Rivers report, enhanced levees, while necessary to protect existing urban populations, could inadvertently increase development in floodplains. Barrigan-Parrila adds, “We need a flood management plan, for the protection of people, that ensures that continued urban development does not take place in floodplains. We need a water plan that finds ways to augment the water supply in each region, rather than our current practice of shipping water from one part of the state to the other. These are two sides of the same coin.”
While Restore the Delta agrees with American Rivers findings that excessive water exports of over 6 million acre feet of water per year have lead to the decline and destruction of Delta species, Restore the Delta questions the role of new conveyance in solving the problem. Barrigan-Parrilla explains, “American Rivers maintains that new conveyance will only work with water conservation and efficiency measures on a scale that has not yet been set in place in California. We fear that the planning process that has been set in place (the Bay Delta Conservation Plan) has skipped over putting such conservation programs into place as well as addressing governance for the Delta. They have left out protection for Delta communities from the plan’s desired outcomes.”
Barrigan-Parrilla adds, “The question at this point in time should not be from where water should be taken from the Delta. What needs to be answered now is how much fresh water should flow through the Delta for restoration of our fisheries and for improved water quality for Delta communities.”
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About Restore the Delta
Restore the Delta is a grassroots campaign committed to making the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta fishable, swimmable, drinkable, and farmable to benefit all of California. Restore the Delta – a coalition of Delta residents, business leaders, civic organizations, community groups, faith-based communities, union locals, farmers, fishermen, and environmentalists – seeks to strengthen the health of the estuary and the well-being of Delta communities. Restore the Delta works to improve water quality so that fisheries and farming can thrive together again in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Website: http://www.restorethedelta.org
Appeals court holds that Butte County’s flood control activities were not a taking of private lands
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 8, 2009 at 7:15 amFrom Somach Simmons & Dunn:
On March 23, 2009, in a case entitled Hauselt v. County of Butte, the Third Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal upheld a lower court’s ruling that Butte County was not liable in inverse condemnation to a private landowner for flood damages. The County had allegedly designed and implemented a flood control plan that benefitted property owners generally to the detriment of the plaintiff landowner, whose property was regularly flooded by waters from an adjacent slough. In delivering its opinion, the Court of Appeal provided a succinct review of the special rules that apply to takings cases premised on public liability for flood control activities.
Although a public agency’s liability for damages to private property under a theory of inverse condemnation is generally independent of any fault or negligence on the part of the agency, a special “rule of reasonableness” limits inverse condemnation liability for failure of a flood control project. In the context of flood control projects, a public agency is liable in inverse condemnation cases if the design, construction or maintenance of a public improvement poses an unreasonable risk of harm to the plaintiff’s property, and the unreasonable aspect of the improvement is a substantial cause of the damage to the plaintiff’s property. The reasonableness of the risk to the plaintiff is determined by ascertaining whether a property owner has been forced to contribute a disproportionate share of the risks of the flood project.
Read more about the ruling from Somach Simmons & Dunn by clicking here.
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