[Water_news] 1. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS - Top Items for 10/12/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

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

 

October 12, 2007

 

1.  Top Items

 

FEMA denies levee exemption in flood-prone area of Sacramento - Associated Press

 

Editorial: Flood of progress; FEMA, new laws signal a notable change - Sacramento Bee

 

 

FEMA denies levee exemption in flood-prone area of Sacramento

Associated Press – 10/11/07

 

SACRAMENTO—Federal flood regulators have ruled that Sacramento cannot continue to allow developers to build without restrictions in one of the city's most flood-prone sections.

 

The decision by the Federal Emergency Management Agency was a blow to the city and Sacramento and Sutter counties. In June, the governments requested leniency because they are working to strengthen the Sacramento River levees in a broad floodplain north of downtown.

 

The levees in the Natomas section do not offer the minimum protection required under federal law.

 

In a letter to the city, FEMA Assistant Administrator David Maurstad said Sacramento might be allowed to build in the area under certain conditions. Those would include building in existing neighborhoods as long as structures are elevated by three feet and requiring residents to buy flood insurance.

 

Local governments were forced to apply for special buildings exemptions after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers withdrew its endorsement of the levees that protect Natomas last year.

 

The agency determined that the levees did not provide 100-year flood protection. An area with 100-year protection has a 1 percent chance of a catastrophic flood in any given year.

 

The Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency began work this summer on the first part of a $414 million project to upgrade the area's levees to 200-year protection. #

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7150928?nclick_check=1

 

 

Editorial: Flood of progress; FEMA, new laws signal a notable change

Sacramento Bee – 10/12/07

 

Common sense would seem to dictate that managers of the National Flood Insurance Program would not allow homes to be built in floodplains that lack a minimum standard of levee protection.

 

But this is the Central Valley, where common sense has rarely prevailed on flood control. Over the years, government authorities have looked the other way while developers have built tens of thousands of homes in places vulnerable to deep, potentially deadly flooding.

 

That is starting to change.

 

Despite lobbying by Sacramento officials, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has informed the city it will not approve a designation allowing unrestricted building in Natomas while its levees are being upgraded.

 

FEMA's decision could have implications for other Valley communities with suspect levees. It is one of several encouraging signs that California soon will be managing its floodplains in a less reckless fashion.

 

This week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed six bills that could help close the disconnect between development and levee integrity.

 

Together, these bills will create a new state plan of flood control, and require floodplain cities to double their current standard of levee protection if they want to keep building. They will lead to better mapping of flood risks and notification of property owners. They also will lead to a revamped state Reclamation Board that is less vulnerable to mass firings.

 

As stated in an earlier editorial, this package doesn't go far enough in immediately stopping unwise floodplain decisions. But it was buttressed by the passage, late in the session, of Assembly Bill 70. This bill, authored by Assemblyman Dave Jones of Sacramento with a key assist by state Sen. Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento, requires cities to share liability should they approve developments in places that are later flooded.

 

Coupled with FEMA's actions this month, the flood package may well lead to more sensible planning decisions in the Inland Sea. If that is the outcome, then 2007 will one day be remembered as a truly historic year. #

http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/428143.html

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