Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Flood Control Tools

All excellent additions to the existing technologies, but one hopes that the eventual conclusion of public leadership is that, for Sacramento, the only serious option for reducing the threat of major flooding is with the construction of the Auburn Dam.

High-tech sensors help study storms that unleash floods
Capital region often in direct path of massive 'Pineapple Express.'
By Matt Weiser - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PST Tuesday, December 19, 2006


A new network of high-tech weather sensors is making the streams, tributaries and dams of the American River the country's most closely monitored water system.

The goal of the ambitious effort is to learn more about massive "Pineapple Express" storms that originate in the Pacific Ocean beyond Hawaii -- and can trigger deadly floods in Sacramento.

The American River cuts through the Sacramento metropolitan region and is often directly in the path of Pacific storms. Because of that, the region faces the greatest urban flooding risk in the country.

The more they know about the impact of these storms on the river system, researchers said, the better prepared officials will be to manage flood-control dams and deploy emergency-response teams.