[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 1/2/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

January 2, 2008

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People

 

Proposal calls for making flood agency independent

Sacramento Bee – 1/1/08

By Matt Weiser, staff writer

 

Sacramento's pivotal flood-control agency could soon pull away from its government hosts and add new staff members under a proposal to manage an unprecedented workload.

 

The Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency was formed in 1989 by Sacramento County, Sutter County and the city of Sacramento. Elected officials from each of those entities form its 13-member board.

 

It was conceived as a temporary agency to achieve greater flood protection for the region. But technical requirements to get levees to 200-year protection – tough enough to withstand storm-driven flows so strong they occur only once every two centuries – have changed repeatedly and are now more stringent. The agency's once "temporary" task is now a long-term goal.

 

In addition, local voters in April approved a $326 million property tax assessment, which will be matched with state and federal funds to build nearly $3 billion in flood-control projects.

 

As a result the agency's annual budget has tripled since last year to $106 million. Yet staffing has changed little: The agency has just 11 employees who are technically on loan from the city and county of Sacramento. Only two are engineers.

 

To deal with the workload and the challenges of recruiting and retaining staff, a consultant's report this month recommends SAFCA sever administrative ties with its creators. It would remain a joint-powers agency of the three governments, but with an independent staff.

 

The consultant also found that SAFCA's salaries and benefits have fallen behind government and private-sector competitors. This is partly a result of scattershot pay policies.

 

Similar employees under its roof can have radically different pay and benefits, because some are technically employed by the city, others by the county of Sacramento. Health coverage, salaries, vacation time and retirement eligibility all vary, even among comparable positions. Paychecks come from different places on different schedules.

 

"Its an administrative headache, it leads to inefficiencies and it makes it more difficult for us to maintain cohesive, rational staffing," said SAFCA chief Stein Buer. "Once in a while, when you're cutting wood you have to stop and sharpen the saw."

 

The demand for flood-control professionals has soared since Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans raised awareness about the threat. Much of the work is in California, thanks to Sacramento's grave risk and $5 billion in flood project bonds approved by state voters in November 2006.

 

To remain competitive, the consultant recommends SAFCA increase salaries and benefits at least 10 percent across the board, and adopt a new organization structure and personnel policies.

 

No decisions have been made on the consultant's report.

 

Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo, a 17-year member of the SAFCA board and its current chair, is not yet convinced a reorganization is required.

 

"If there are differences in benefits I think we need to make sure all that is spooked out," she said. "I'm not sure we need a whole separate entity to work that out."

 

The SAFCA board is expected to review the consultant's proposal in February.

 

Fargo supports another of the consultant's recommendations, however: hire two engineers at a cost of around $300,000.

 

Buer said SAFCA's current workload is "extreme." It is not unusual for engineers and others who oversee projects to work seven days a week.

 

"I think it is just a little bit too lean," Buer said of the staff.

 

"The program managers are putting in a lot of personal effort, way beyond what you can expect people to sustain over the long term."

 

SAFCA is preparing its largest project ever, a controversial plan to raise or widen nearly 25 miles of levees in Natomas. Other projects include ongoing levee upgrades in south Sacramento and along the American River and its role as a partner in improvements to Folsom Dam.

 

Future projects include 200-year protection for other levees, including congested areas such as Sacramento's downtown and Pocket neighborhood.

 

Buer said SAFCA has a decade of work in store, so the time is right to take a long view. A new structure and more staff, he said, would spread the work and ensure key projects are not dependent on any single person.

 

"We want to remain strong and nimble," he said. "But frankly, we have some extraordinary individuals that will not be here forever, so we have to think about succession." #

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/602227.html

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