In this editorial from today’s Bee public discussion around whether a dam on the Cosumnes River is needed continues, and it is a good area for public discussion.
As the only wild river in the County and public access already restricted, a strong case can be made to keep it as a nature preserve.
On the other hand, keeping it as a nature preserve, in addition to flooding, causes it to dry out occasionally, and it wasn’t long ago that water from the American River had to be diverted to it, stretching that already limited supply.
Development, which would occur if the dam goes in, is needed desperately by the County seeing its revenue shrink as city after city incorporates.
Here is an excerpt.
Editorial: Wild for a reason
A flood dam doesn't belong on Cosumnes
Published 12:01 am PDT Monday, May 22, 2006
A basic solution to flooding problems along Sacramento County's unpredictable Cosumnes River exists: Keep civilization out of its way.
With no significant dams in the bulk of its watershed, the river is the wildest on the western slope of the Sierra. The river reflects the prevailing weather, and when sheets of rain fall from the sky, the little Cosumnes quickly grows big. Engineers may be tempted to tame the Cosumnes River with a dam, as Sacramento County is studying. But a flood control solution could create an enormous growth problem. Real estate speculators have respected the Cosumnes as off-limits to urbanization. Build a dam, and they will come.
Sacramento County, however, has drifted into a misguided study of damming the Cosumnes because of a tiny community called Pleasant Point in the middle of the river's floodplain.
Pleasant Point, with perhaps 125 houses in all, lies south of Elk Grove on Interstate 5. After county supervisors urbanized greater Elk Grove, more runoff headed toward Pleasant Point. So the county for years has paid for flood insurance for Pleasant Pointers and collected money for a yet-to-be-determined flood solution.
