In addition to the problems with Proposition IE noted in this column, there is also no money included for dams, the best option for flood control, especially on the American River where the Auburn Dam would provide 500 year protection while the levees, currently at 100 year or less, would give us 200 year protection at best.
A good example of public policy disconnected to public needs.
An excerpt.
Campaign 2006: Levee measure seeks to prevent a local Katrina
By Matt Weiser - Bee Staff WriterPublished 12:00 am PDT Sunday, October 15, 2006
First in a series of 13 stories examining the propositions on the Nov. 7 ballot.
Hurricane Katrina didn't hit California, but in some ways it was still a local disaster. The images of a flooded New Orleans did what no speech or study had achieved in California, which was to focus public and political attention on the possibility of a similar peril here.
A year later, California voters have a chance to help prevent such a disaster in their own state. Proposition 1E, proposed by the Schwarzenegger administration and placed on the Nov. 7 ballot by the Legislature, would authorize the sale of bonds worth $4.1 billion to strengthen the state's flood defenses.
Most everyone agrees the state's levees need improvement, but there is disagreement about whether Proposition 1E is the right solution. Critics say the measure does not include specific language to ensure the money is spent wisely, and some say that bonds may not be the right way to pay for the repairs.
Five months before Katrina, the state Department of Water Resources called California's aging levees a "ticking time bomb." Today, it estimates that flood-prone areas need upgrades costing $12 billion.
Proposition 1E covers only a third of that. But Les Harder, DWR deputy director in charge of flood control, says it would represent an essential start.
"There's a huge need out there because the system was neglected for decades, and much of it was never developed to protect urban areas," Harder said. "That need is going to go unmet unless we get additional funding. California is basically in a flood crisis now."
