[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 3/26/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

March 26, 2008

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People

 

YUBA COUNTY LEVEE ISSUES:

Levee funds running dry - Marysville Appeal Democrat

 

FUNDING ISSUES:

Who pays when the levee breaks?  - San Francisco Examiner

 

 

YUBA COUNTY LEVEE ISSUES:

Levee funds running dry

Marysville Appeal Democrat – 3/26/08

By Andrea Koskey, staff writer

 

Yuba County is out of time and money when it comes to funding the Feather River setback levee.

 

Tuesday, supervisors learned the project was $11 million short when only five of the anticipated nine Plumas Lake developers signed a funding agreement that would have provided $30 million for the project.

 

"The ball is in the county's court," said County Administrator Robert Bendorf. "We need to take action now.

 

Everyday we wait we are slipping on the construction schedule."

 

To receive $138 million from Proposition 1E and move forward with construction, the county needs to provide a local match of $58 million. Thirty million dollars was expected to come from landowners.

 

The county hopes to construct 6 miles of setback levee along the Feather River to protect Olivehurst to Plumas Lake. Without the money, construction could be pushed back.

 

The funding agreement, signed by five developers, is a contract with the county that allows developers to prepay impact fees in order to receive special privileges for future building. Those privileges include no change to impact fees or capital facilities fees. It also provides a 20-year map life for current approved tentative maps and outlines the repayment of the money to the landowners.

 

Paul Brunner, executive director of the Three Rivers Levee Improvement Authority, said if the county does not move forward now, the project will not be completed by the end of 2008.

 

"If we do not start and have an agreement signed now, our goals are not achievable," he said.

 

If construction is pushed back, Brunner said, timing could also be an issue with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which plans to release new flood maps next year.

 

The setback levee is the final phase of levee improvements planned for the south county.

 

The five confirmed landowner contributions — Lennar Renaissance Inc., Cresleigh Homes Corporation, Western Pacific Housing, K Hovnanian Forecast Inc. and Cassano/ Kamilos — make up only $13.3 million of the needed money.

 

Seth Merewitz, attorney for the landowners, said Homes by Towne and KB Homes, are expected sign the funding agreement by April 7, which will add $5.2 million.

 

The remaining $11.6 million was expected to come from Matthews Homes and Meritage Homes of California, but both companies said they would no longer participate, according to Merewitz.

 

Yuba County previously agreed to borrow $23.3 million if the landowners could provide the $30 million.

 

Despite the dire outlook, Supervisor Mary Jane Griego remained optimistic that the county would find the funding.

 

"We are moving forward and we are moving fast," she said. "I don't want to push away $138 million from the state and $23 million from the county because we're $11.6 million short of achieving our goal."

 

Many supervisors said they were disappointed the funding agreement was not signed.

 

All supervisors agreed on the urgency of finding a solution.

 

• Who: Yuba County Board of Supervisors

 

• What: Special meeting to discuss funding for Feather River setback levee

 

• When: Thursday at 1 p.m.

 

• Where: Yuba County Board of Supervisors chambers, County Government Center, 915 Eighth St., Marysville. #

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/county_61922___article.html/levee_million.html

 

 

FUNDING ISSUES:

Who pays when the levee breaks?

San Francisco Examiner – 3/25/08

By Katie Worth, staff writer

 

San Mateo County  - San Mateo’s faulty levees could soak Foster City — and the wallets of its residents.

The levees of Foster City’s bayside neighbor are in bad shape, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency, and are in need of some $32.5 million in repairs.

 

Foster City’s own levees meet all federal standards, Mayor Pam Frisella said, but since the two cities are immediately adjacent to one another, FEMA is deciding whether water flooding over San Mateo’s walls could put Foster City at risk.

 

If FEMA decides this is a risk, thousands of Foster City residents who have federally insured mortgages could be required to purchase flood insurance, said Kathleen Schaefer, an engineer with FEMA. That extra insurance can cost $300 to $1,800 a year.

 

The federal agency is currently considering all potential flood zones as part of its nationwide five-year effort to update its flood-hazard maps. The new map may designate some or all of Foster City as high-risk for a flood, Frisella said. The Foster City Public Works Department has been in close contact with FEMA and San Mateo in the last few months to discuss what can be done to protect Foster City from the flood-hazard designation.

 

“It’s crummy, because we’ve worked so hard to keep our levees up to speed, and then to have San Mateo’s [levees] affect us, that’s frustrating,” Frisella said.

 

Unlike Foster City, San Mateo already has several flood-hazard zones, and city officials are anticipating that those will be expanded when the new FEMA map is released.

 

The reason San Mateo’s faulty levees have never affected Foster City before is because previously, flood hazards were analyzed city by city, and FEMA didn’t consider how one city’s flooding problems could impact another city, Schaefer said.

 

Schaefer would not confirm which parts of Foster City — if any — will be labeled flood-hazard zones, since the agency hasn’t made a final decision yet. Once the map is released in April, however, residents and officials will have about a year to provide feedback, or, if necessary, buy flood insurance.

 

Susanna Chan, San Mateo’s deputy director for Public Works, said San Mateo is doing what it can to work on its levee problems — especially those that affect large areas and would be relatively cheap to fix.

 

Frisella said Foster City, FEMA and San Mateo officials will meet in the next few weeks to discuss what can be done to protect Foster City from the flood hazard designation. #

http://www.examiner.com/a-1300096~Who_pays_when_the_levee_breaks_.html

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