This is an excellent result from the many months of coverage resulting from the tragedy of Katrina but if the only conclusion of flood control leadership is to stop at 200 year protection, (New Orleans had 250 year protection) Sacramento will be really missing the boat.
The intent of the poll, if protection levels would have been asked, would have surely shown 500 year protection as the desired goal as the public indicated their preference for building Auburn Dam, the only 500 year level option, in the 2006 J. D. Franz Research Inc. survey (with support levels at 58% in El Dorado County, 59% in Placer County, and 62% in Sacramento County).
An excerpt.
Flood-risk worries top poll
Agency thinks concern will translate to votes for assessment measure.
By Deb Kollars - Bee Staff WriterPublished 12:00 am PDT Saturday, October 21, 2006
A new poll of Sacramento property owners has registered a significant shift in public awareness over flooding dangers.
When asked in an open-ended question to name the most urgent issues facing local government, 23 percent listed -- without prompting -- flooding or flood control as their first or second most urgent concern. No other issue, including crime or traffic, was mentioned more frequently.
Seven years ago, in a poll with a similar query, only 4 percent mentioned flooding, according to the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, which commissioned the survey.
The findings bode well for an assessment measure slated to go before property owners for a vote in February, said Stein Buer, executive director of the agency, known as SAFCA.
The measure would ask property owners to tax themselves for new flood control improvements. The dollar amount has not yet been determined.
In the new poll, 56 percent called flood risks from rivers a "serious problem," up from 34 percent in the past.
The poll's questions and results were released to The Bee on Friday, following a brief summary given to the agency's board on Thursday.
"The findings suggest the community is very aware of the flood issues," Buer said, adding that the poll indicates public willingness to pay for improvements. Sixty percent of those surveyed said they would definitely or probably support a new assessment, with another 6 percent saying they leaned that direction.
The poll questioned 600 single-family residential property owners in the Sacramento area. It had a margin of error of four percentage points, said Dave Metz, senior vice president of Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates, the Santa Monica firm that did the survey.
"I think understanding has increased across the country because of Hurricane Katrina," Metz said. The survey results, he added, show that Sacramento's flood risks are well understood by local residents.
The poll comes as SAFCA is laying groundwork for the new assessment district. The agency was created in 1989 to handle big improvement projects that benefit the city of Sacramento and parts of Sacramento and Sutter counties.
On Oct. 13, the agency sent a four-page color newsletter to 138,000 property owners providing information about plans to bring the community 200-year flood protection on the American and Sacramento rivers. The newsletters arrived in mailboxes this week.
