Four levee improvement projects to control flooding in Northern California will move ahead quickly, funded by $211 million from a bond measure already approved by voters, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday.
Of the almost $5 billion in Proposition 1E and 84 funding passed by voters in 2006 for flood protection, more than $3 billion has not yet been allocated, according to the California Department of Water Resources, which will distribute the $211 million.
To announce the four expedited projects, the governor traveled to Natomas in Sacramento County where $49 million of the new funding will be spent for the Natomas Levee Improvement Program.
This rapidly growing Natomas Basin area, population 70,000, is in trouble after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last month decided that sections of its levee system are unsafe. North Natomas could be designated a flood hazard zone, halting new construction.
'I came to Natomas today because it is a perfect example of why we must continue to rebuild levees in California to protect people and economic growth,' said the governor.
'We must do everything we can to protect Californians from dangerous floods that could harm communities, agriculture and our water supplies,' he said. 'This money is an important step in addressing the serious public safety concerns that have also put hundreds of millions of dollars of Natomas development in jeopardy.'
The problems at Natomas are due to 'deep underseepage and continuing erosion' of levees throughout the Lower Sacramento Valley, found a March 2006 engineering report prepared for the county.
These problems have persisted despite more than a decade of levee improvement activity aimed at safely containing a 200-year flood in the Lower Sacramento and American Rivers and the diversion channels around the perimeter of the Natomas Basin.
The Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency plans to add onto the land side of the current levee along a 23 mile stretch. The agency hopes to complete the Natomas levee upgrade by 2010 to bring the system up to the federal government's minimum requirement of 100 year flood protection. After that, growth in the Natomas basin could resume.
The largest portion of the levee improvement funding, $138.5 million, will go to the Three Rivers Levee Improvement Authority for the Feather River Setback Levee in Yuba County. This money will fund 200-year flood protection for residents of Plumas Lake, Olivehurst and surrounding areas in the southern part of the county.
“The substantial funding offer from the Department of Water Resources is a reward of sorts, validating the hard work and effort we’ve invested in addressing vital infrastructure and safety needs for our community,” said Dan Logue, Yuba County supervisor and vice-chair of Three Rivers Levee Improvement Authority's Board of Directors.
Also in Yuba County Reclamation District 2103 in Wheatland will receive $7.4 million for the Bear River North Levee Rehabilitation Project.
The remaining $16.3 million will go to Levee District No. 1 of Sutter County for the Lower Feather River Setback Levee at Star Bend.
The plan is part of the governor's plan to rebuild California's aging infrastructure while creating jobs.
The governor also sent a letter to President George W. Bush urging him to increase federal flood protection funding for California in his Fiscal Year 2009 budget and help streamline the process to approve projects.
The White House budget request to Congress proposed on Monday would decrease California's flood protection funding by 35 percent from the 2008 budget year.
Since February 2006, when Governor Schwarzenegger declared an emergency for California's levee system and ordered the Department of Water Resources to begin immediate repairs to prevent catastrophic flooding and loss of life, 102 of the most vulnerable levee sites in Northern California have been repaired.
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