(UPDATED 2/25/17) After years of severe drought, an unusually wet winter (to date) and the crisis/near-catastrophe at Oroville Dam have combined to put flood control infrastructure i.e. dams, spillways, levees, etc. back on the front burner of our elected officials – both state and federal. This is a very good thing.
While it appears that for now releases out of Oroville Dam can be controlled – the Sacramento region is not out of the woods yet. Back to back storms and high flows have resulted in instances of levee failure. Flooding has occurred in certain areas, such as along the nearby Cosumnes River, and we still have to get through the remainder of the rainy season.
Snowmelt is a given come spring – and depending on the weather it may also cause pressure on the levees. The snowpack is well above the season average – so much so that some ski resorts have announced they will remain open into the summer.
The ground is saturated and neighbors of mine are utilizing their sump pumps to pump water out of their basements. To date my basement has stayed dry, but this could change at any time. I am keeping a close eye out and checking my basement two or three times a day. I had water seeping up from my basement floor during the winter of 1986, a year when Sacramento came a bit too close to flooding for comfort.
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The levees protecting the City of Sacramento have been and continue to be upgraded, and work continues on Folsom Dam which will add additional flood protection when it is completed. See related post: New Sacramento Flood Control Assessment District Approved.
That said, California has numerous large dams showing their age – and miles upon miles of levees. In many parts of the Central Valley and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (which has over a thousand miles of levees) these levees cannot be relied upon in a major storm event.
State legislators will hold hearings, and bills will be introduced to address real and perceived problems – but the fact is that massive new investments will be needed to modernize aging dams, levees and related infrastructure.
I always remember this truism – You can’t “prevent” flooding – you can only attempt to “control” it.
Given the huge sums of money needed to control flooding in the state the first question is – where will the money come from? And, as it is highly unlikely that there will ever be sufficient funding to address all of the state’s needs, the second question is – how will the available funding be spent?
I will be watching with interest the discussions on both the state and federal levels. You may want to do so as well.
(UPDATED 2/25/2017) Governor Jerry Brown announced yesterday a four-point plan aimed to help improve dam safety and flood control. The Governor proposes to:
- Invest $437 million in near-term flood control and emergency response actions by redirecting $50 million from the General Fund and requesting a $387 million Proposition 1 appropriation from the Legislature as soon as possible.
- Require emergency action plans and flood inundation maps for all dams.
- Enhance the State’s existing dam inspection program.
- Seek prompt regulatory action and increased funding from the federal government to improve dam safety.
The Governor’s press release noted that even with the actions proposed above that California has nearly $50 billion in unmet flood management infrastructure needs.
Comments on California’s unmet flood management infrastructure needs?
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