[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 5/31/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

May 31, 2007

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People

 

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA LEVEES:

Feds praise Yuba levee; Herger, Army Corps official visit Bear River - Marysville Appeal Democrat

 

SALMON FISHING FUNDS:

Thompson fights for speedy release of emergency salmon funds - Eureka Times Standard

 

 

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA LEVEES:

Feds praise Yuba levee; Herger, Army Corps official visit Bear River

Marysville Appeal Democrat – 5/30/07

By john Dickey, staff writer

 

A top U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official visited a new Yuba County levee Wednesday that was built entirely from state and local funds – bypassing the typical federal process for levee building.

“This is truly 21st-century flood control,” said John P. Woodley Jr., assistant secretary of the Army, Civil Works. “Because what we’re looking at here is what the Dutch call ‘room for the river.’”

Woodley had good words for the Bear River setback levee, a 1.8-mile embankment that protects against a 200-year flood. He noted the fact that the setback levee eases the constriction on the river and provides 600 acres of valuable habitat.

The setback levee is located about a mile or so from Plumas Lake homes, which help pay for the Three Rivers Levee Improvement Authority levee repairs using a $29,345 fee charged to each home.

Yuba County’s plan to bypass the federal levee-building process and instead fund improvements using fees generated by Plumas Lake homebuilding has garnered some critics in the past, who said it was putting people in a deep flood zone before levee repairs were finished.

Even Rep. Wally Herger joined in the chorus at one point with a January 2005 letter to Yuba County supervisors expressing concern over the danger of developing in Plumas Lake.

But on Wednesday, Herger brought Woodley and a host of local and state government officials to one of the results of the program, the Bear River setback levee, as part of a two-day tour of Yuba-Sutter flood protection facilities, including Shanghai Bend, the Wadsworth Canal and the Marysville ring levee.

“We’re very proud of where you’re standing now,” said Herger, R-Chico. “This shows what we can do. And we have more of this we need to do.”

The levee was the result of a decision by Yuba County officials to move ahead with a developer-funded partnership that built homes in a flood zone before the levee improvements were completed, rather than wait for funding from Washington – the more typical route for levee improvements.

Yuba County officials and developers agreed to a plan that allowed limited building to occur in Plumas Lake as a way of raising nearly $70 million for the levee work, according to a statement issued earlier this month after the Army Corps certified levee work on the Yuba and Bear Rivers and along the Western Pacific Interceptor Canal.

Wednesday’s press conference brought no specific proposals for new federal funding or projects, other than some discussion of Army Corps credits for Yuba County’s recent improvements. The credits could be used to reduce the state and local share of an estimated $50 million in repairs needed for the Marysville ring levee.

But Woodley expressed optimism about the prospects for flood-control funding in Yuba-Sutter during the press conference held on the Bear River setback levee.

“I think that you’re going to see, going forward, a continued and ever-increasing commitment from the federal government to fund projects such as this one, said Woodley, who oversees the Army Corps Civil Work Program, including levees. “And I think that our investments in flood-control projects in this region will be at a very, very high level.”

Herger said he would be working with locals and the state to get the funding needed to bring levees up to 200-year levels. While the Bear River setback levee is locally funded, it is part of an overall project that uses federal funds, the Yuba River Basin Project, according to officials.

“I am four-square behind, again, ensuring that Yuba and Sutter areas have the flood protection that we need to protect our citizens,” said Herger. “The fact is, we have the homes here now. It behooves all of us to work together to make sure they have the flood protection they need.” #

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/onset?id=49163&template=article.html

 

 

SALMON FISHING FUNDS:

Thompson fights for speedy release of emergency salmon funds

Eureka Times Standard – 5/31/07

 

North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson, following the president's signature on emergency disaster relief for the Pacific salmon industry, has assembled members of Congress from California and Oregon to call for the prompt distribution of the funding.

 

”The president's approval of this disaster relief is long overdue,” said Thompson. “The administration's failed water policies resulted in our country's largest commercial salmon fishery disaster, and North Coast residents have suffered because of it. Our salmon fishermen and businesses will finally get the aid they desperately need.”

 

The $60.4 million in emergency funding will be distributed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency, which has regulatory jurisdiction over the nation's fishing industries. Thompson and members of the state congressional delegations formally invited William Hogarth, director of NOAA Fisheries, to a meeting in Washington, D.C. to discuss how and when those affected by the disaster will receive aid.

 

”We've been working for the past two years to get this funding, and now that we have it, we can't waste another minute getting it to our salmon fishermen and related-businesses,” said Thompson.

 

In other business, Thompson, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, Human Intelligence, Analysis and Counterintelligence, has embarked on a five-day intelligence oversight trip to the United Kingdom and Sweden.

 

The purpose, according to his office, is to examine the growth of religious extremism in Europe and the threat that this trend poses to the U.S. and our allies. In addition, Thompson will meet with local officials to discuss how the U.S. and European countries can better coordinate counterterrorism measures and the sharing of intelligence.

 

”Strong intelligence is our best weapon for fighting terrorism,” said Thompson. “And close collaboration with our allies and partners is critical given that many of these extremist groups operate in multiple countries. We need to share information with our allies and learn from each others' experiences if we are to counter the threats posed by these dangerous groups.”

 

Thompson, a Vietnam combat veteran, will also spend a day with wounded soldiers at the Army's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. This is his second visit to the hospital since fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan began. #
http://www.times-standard.com/local/ci_6027869