Couldn’t agree more, but it is also important to remember that we are at this juncture of danger because previous, and some current, public leaders have failed to ensure adequate planning and funding for flood protection were being done.
Editorial: Faster flood work
State can't dawdle in advance of a deluge
Published 12:00 am PST Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Thanks to state voters, lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, California is making major investments in a flood-control system that the state has neglected for too long. The governor has channeled tens of millions of dollars into emergency repairs, and voters approved $4.9 billion more in flood-control bonds through the passage of Propositions 1E and 84 in November.
Spending those funds strategically will be challenging, partly because so little is known about the actual condition of the 1,600 miles of state-controlled levees in the Central Valley. As incredible as it may seem, government engineers can't say with certainty which sections of levee have deposits of sand and porous material that might allow flood waters to seep through. They can't delineate all the levee sections that are susceptible to erosion or have subsided over time, making them vulnerable to a high-running river.
Under the governor's strategic plan, the state Department of Water Resources will undertake a monumental assessment of the decades-old flood control system, starting with the 350 miles of levee that protect urban areas. DWR believes it could take four years to assess all of those urban levees, even using the latest state-of-the-art technologies.
Some state lawmakers, including state Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, think this assessment and other levee work can be completed more quickly.
