[Water_news] 1. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS - Top Item for 8/17/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment

 

August 17, 2007

 

1.  Top Item

 

West Sac starts levee fix process

Sacramento Bee – 8/17/07

By Lakiesha McGhee, staff writer

 

West Sacramento officials have identified four levee sites in the northern part of the city as the first wave of improvements in a $400 million program.

 

The City Council on Wednesday agreed to spend $2.8 million for designs, environmental review and permitting to start the levee work, which will begin in June 2008 and take several years to complete.

 

City officials said public safety was considered first in selecting the first levee sites, or "reaches," to receive improvements.

 

Once engineers determined there were no reaches in the city that posed an imminent danger from a flood, reaches in the north that were less costly and complicated to fix were favored, said Ric Reinhardt, the city's lead consultant on the levee project. The first phase of levee work is estimated to cost $47 million.

 

"The repairs are straightforward," Reinhardt said, explaining that the selection process also considered requirements for acquiring land and permits, the extent of construction, and impact on the environment.

 

West Sacramento, which is surrounded by 45 miles of levees, has been moving quickly to acquire better flood protection following Hurricane Katrina.

 

In the past few months, new developer fees and property assessments were approved to generate $84 million for levee fixes that would meet new federal requirements. City officials said a local financial share is needed to tap into billions of dollars in state and federal money designated for areas vulnerable to flooding.

 

West Sacramento's funding strategy relies on building more homes and businesses, with some new developments scheduled for floodplains.

 

The city's Southport area -- which has a potential flood depth of 5 to 10 feet in most areas -- is a community of about 4,500 homes. Three proposed projects would increase the area's buildout from 16,000 residences to more than 20,000 residences, according to a city report.

 

West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon defended the development plans Wednesday during a flood control workshop in the council chambers. Attending the gathering were state Sen. Mike Machado, D-Linden, and Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, who have both introduced legislation to address flood protection issues.

 

"It's a bit of a conundrum for some people of why we continue to build in areas that need better protection," Cabaldon said, explaining that the city's funding strategy has put West Sacramento "further along and ready to go on (flood control) issues."

 

Wolk reassured city officials that West Sacramento was in a good position to secure a portion of the $5 billion in state bonds approved in November by voters for vulnerable areas.

 

The assemblywoman also spoke about her bill, AB 5, to reorganize flood protection and give priority in funding to communities that have local flood plans in place. AB 5 also requires local governments to have a plan to obtain a 200-year level of flood protection if they want to build in a floodplain, Wolk said. Such a flood would be more rare, providing a 1-in-200 chance of happening in any given year.

 

"In the beginning I thought, if you're in a floodplain do not put another house there until you can protect those people," Wolk said, explaining that the idea failed to win political support.

 

Machado said he's against a moratorium on building or requiring flood insurance, but supports more state responsibility concerning flood control.

 

Machado's bill, SB 5, proposes state programs for flood control because "it's unreasonable to rely on general obligation bonds to fix the levees," he said.

 

West Sacramento is tracking nine bills in the Legislature that would affect its flood control efforts.

 

The first phase of levee improvements involves installing "cut-off" walls to prevent water seepage at four levee sites along the city's northern boundary.

 

City Councilman William Kristoff said he is confident in the engineers' recommendation.

 

"Some people would like a levee or moat around their house, but we're trying to do the best we can for the whole community," Kristoff said. #

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/330018.html

#####