In this editorial from today’s Bee, the penchant for development to occur in the flood plains of areas around rivers is characterized as being “in defiance of basic common sense” while in reality building along rivers is what cities have been doing forever.
The task for public leadership is not to discontinue ancient practice, but to utilize modern technology and commit public resources to provide flood protection, rather than turn away from growth and development; the lifeblood of cities.
Here is an excerpt.
Editoral: Up a creek
Flood liability bill faces major vote today
Published 2:15 am PDT Wednesday, May 17, 2006
In defiance of basic common sense, cities and counties in the Central Valley continue to approve development in flood-prone areas – places where the levees are designed to protect farmland, not subdivisions.
It’s happening in Lathrop, Stockton and Yuba County. It’s even happening in Sacramento, where doubts have resurfaced about the levees that surround fast-growing Natomas.
This continuing push into dangerous flood plains is worrisome enough given the lives at risk. From a fiduciary standpoint, it is even more disturbing. Three years ago, an appeals court found that California was solely liable for a state-owned levee that broke and inundated part of Yuba County in 1986. Because of that ruling – known as the Paterno decision – state taxpayers are paying nearly $500 million to flood victims and face billions of dollars in future liabilities.
This situation is crying out for change. In response, Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, has introduced a bill that would require local planning agencies to share the liability when they approve new development in flood-prone areas. Specifically, these planning agencies would be jointly liable to the extent their decisions add to potential flood damages and the state’s overall exposure.
Assembly Bill 3050 would not absolve the state of liability. But it would prompt local agencies to think twice before approving homes next to suspect levees. That’s too much for the League of Cities, the Building Industry Association and other groups. They want to kill Jones’ bill, which faces a hearing today in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
