Emergency declared on 24 Greater Sacramento levees
Sacramento Business Journal - 12:18 PM PST Tuesday November 7, 2006
The Army Corps of Engineers issued a declaration of emergency for 24 levee sites on the Sacramento River and some of its tributaries.
The emergency declaration will allow the Corps and the state Department of Water Resources to begin repair work on the levees while still completing environmental impact and mitigation assessments.
The 24 sites listed by Col. Ron Light have severe enough damage to be considered an imminent threat to the residential areas protected by the levees.
"Our number one concern is protecting people," Light said in a news release. "This declaration allows us to do that as quickly as possible while still meeting out environmental responsibilities."
The sites, which are along the Sacramento and Bear rivers, Cache Creek, Steamboat Slough and Sutter Slough, were identified in late September as the Corps analyzed its annual summer survey, Jim Taylor in the Corps' public affairs office said. He said 71 sites were found to be critical, and of those 24 were deemed to severe enough for the emergency declaration.
Taylor said the declaration means the Corps can work on the sites beginning in mid-November and continue work as long as the weather allows. The Corps will repair 14 of the sites, while the water resources department will repair the other 10.
