Come hell or high water

After experiencing heavy rains last December and in early January that caused flooding and landslides, it’s a foregone conclusion that Californians will face another flood in their lifetimes. Whether it will be as devastating as the one caused by Hurricane Katrina depends on their ability to plan appropriately before it occurs — as well as depends on public policy.

Following the rains last winter, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency to repair 29 critically damaged sites. Work on upgrading those levees has begun. Meanwhile, when a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report certified an area near the Natomas levees as able to withstand a 100-year flood, it led to skyrocketing development in the state capitol area north of downtown Sacramento.

A recently released report from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, however, increased the number of California levees vulnerable to failure to 81 sites. And oops, the Corps says the Natomas area it once certified as 100-year flood-protected may not be as waterproof as it originally thought.

“We can no longer support our original position regarding certification of the levee system surrounding the Natomas area,” noted Thomas E. Trainer, chief of the engineering division for the Corps.

The Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency deserves credit for having started a $370 million project to upgrade the levee system to 200-year flood protection, twice the protection required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, back in March. Yet the Flood Control Agency may not be able to move as fast as the flood waters.

“In total, 20 of the 26 miles surrounding Natomas need some work, including erosion protection, deeper walls to prevent seepage and greater height to withstand bigger floods,” Pete Ghelfi, director of engineering for the Sacramento flood agency, told The Associated Press. He said fortifying the Natomas levees, which is scheduled to begin in 2007, will take up to five years to complete.

This presents Sacramento with an interesting public policy dilemma. Contractors began construction in the area based on FEMA certification and assurances that the area was sound. Now that the government has changed its mind, should those contractors stop?

New construction would bring business to the area. So should the city relax its belief in environmental reviews for economic rewards? And, if fixing California’s most critical levees that protect residential areas and infrastructure costs $50.5 million, as estimated by the Corps report, who will pay for the upgrades — plus the potential losses by halting development in the area?

Clearly, Sacramento officials have just been deluged with a problem. But let’s hope the water woes end there. In a few weeks, the Corps is expected to release another report, this time on last spring’s storm damage to levees in the southern part of the Delta and along the San Joaquin River.

Topics Flood