|
Flood control efforts questioned
Marysville Appeal Democrat -
October
15,
2004
By Harold Kruger
State Reclamation Board members on Friday questioned Yuba County's strategy of allowing homes in the flood-prone Plumas Lake area to generate funds for levee improvements.
"We don't feel we can sit around and wait for money to come from other sources first," County Administrator Kent McClain told the board.
But board members said they wanted more assurances from the county and the Three Rivers Levee Improvement Authority, which is overseeing the work.
"It was a big lake in 1997, and it wasn't that long ago," board President Betsy Marchand said of the last major Yuba County flood and its effect on the Plumas Lake area, where nearly 12,000 homes are planned.
"We're not trying to give you a hard time," Marchand said. "You've got a project that's a real doozy. It's one that gives a lot of people a lot of concern."
In a letter to the board, McClain acknowledged that "funding and construction of timely levee improvements will not be accomplished without continued development. Without levee improvements, continued degradation of the levees and increased risk to existing residents will occur."
Development in Plumas Lake provides "the most expeditious way to eliminate existing hazards in the immediate future by assessing new development the cost of levee repairs and improvements," he wrote.
But Marchand said she was "very concerned about the people living in Plumas Lake" and whether "all those good intentions are going to get those people a 200-year level" of flood protection.
"I don't think any of us can be in a position to guarantee the future," said McClain. "I don't know what will occur in the next minute, and therefore cannot guarantee what the next minute will hold."
The safety of the 25,000 people who now live in southern Yuba County is of prime concern to every county official, McClain said.
"We know the names of the people who live there," he said. "We know who their children are. They're there today. We see the development taking place as a way of protecting the people who live there. I assure you and assure this board, it is of a much higher level of concern to the people of Yuba County than to this board, although I know you're concerned."
The Levee Improvement Authority has created a community facilities district that will raise up to $33 million for flood control improvements through the issuance of bonds, if the Reclamation Board next month approves a permit for the work.
One of the first major projects is a setback levee along a portion of the Bear River.
Board members expressed skepticism at the county's development strategy, what member Jeff Mount described as putting "more people at risk to lessen the risk."
Board member Bill Edgar, a former Sacramento city manager, said he was "not necessarily in agreement" with the county's actions.
"If the budget goes haywire for a lot of different reasons and the schedule goes bust, at what point do you stop issuing building permits? That's got to be our fail-safe position, not that we want to issue a (building) moratorium," Edgar said.
The Yuba County Water Agency also hopes to secure more than $50 million from state bond funds for additional levee fixes.
In addition to the Reclamation Board permit, the Levee Improvement Authority also needs a wetlands permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Ric Reinhardt, the Levee Improvement Authority's consultant, said its timeline calls for the Army Corps to issue the permit within eight months.
But Edgar said when he was with the city of Sacramento, it was a "nightmare" dealing with the Army Corps. Obtaining the wetlands permit could take as long as two years, he said.
Reinhardt acknowledged a lengthy delay by the Army Corps "completely blows" the project timeline.
"The worst case is if we have 70,000 instead of 26,000 in an area that doesn't have (flood) protection," Edgar said. "We're about assurances up here."
Said Marchand, "How many instances have we seen in this state where things have not worked out and people have been killed?"
Board Vice President Tony Cusenza also expressed alarm.
"I don't want to know that something that we did potentially endangered somebody's life and limb," he told the Yuba County representatives. "I have a hard time with it, gentlemen. Until you show me something in concrete, I'm going to reserve my vote."
McClain reminded the board that repair work on a portion of the Linda levee from the E Street Bridge to the site of the 1986 break, including a new slurry wall, should be finished by Oct. 30, which he called a major accomplishment.
"We have the beginning of a track record that's satisfactory, at least, and in my own view excellent," he said.
And Curt Aikens, the Yuba County Water Agency's general manager, told the board: "We know we have challenges. We've been able to overcome those challenges and make things happen."#
Format for Print
|
|
|
