In what could begin a vitally needed process involving flood protection in central California, public leadership is expressing the willingness to think abut it seriously, with what happened in New Orleans spurring them on.
An excerpt.
State's delta is at the core of safeguard strategy plan
By Michael Gardner COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
August 7, 2006
SACRAMENTO – For the first time, California has started to map an all-in-one strategy to safeguard an economically vital network of highways, railroads and energy supply lines crisscrossing the heart of the state.
This post-Hurricane Katrina response broadens the state's initial list of priorities beyond levees and aqueducts to target overlooked lifelines centered in the Sacramento Delta that are just as vital to the state's fiscal well-being, from San Diego to Silicon Valley.
A natural disaster in the delta could disrupt the delivery of goods and services along roads, rail lines and deep-water ports. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. facilities there bring energy supplies to millions.
“We have ignored the warnings too long,” said Lester Snow, California's Department of Water Resources director. “Now is the time to come up with a different vision.”
That vision could lead to an unprecedented push to relocate highways, railroad tracks and gas lines to safer ground – potentially costly and politically sensitive moves.
Costs could be spread out, officials say. Ideas include assuming more bond debt, imposing special water-connection fees or collecting tolls to drive on newly raised roads.
The price of inertia could be flooded homes, closed transportation routes and power outages, officials warn.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, recognizing that such an ambitious undertaking will meet with resistance from many quarters, is preparing an aggressive executive order that will put reluctant interests on notice that dramatic policy changes are on the way.
“We need a plan. We need leadership. We need someone who makes decisions,” said Banky Curtis, a longtime manager in the state Department of Fish and Game. “We need to do what's real. We can't meet everybody's needs.”
Schwarzenegger also is weighing a proposal to appoint a panel of experts from across the country to help brace the delta for what may lie ahead. The proposal has been endorsed by some insiders who recognize a fresh perspective is necessary.
