While the idea of not building in an area that will flood is obviously smart, the responsibility for providing flood protection to flood prone areas people live in should be a public priority, which so far it has not.
Had it been, Sacramento wouldn’t have the worst flood protection of any major river city in the country, which only the fall out from Katrina brought to the attention of the public.
As a flood protection comparison graph from the California Department of Water Resources website @ http://www.levees.water.ca.gov/history/floodprotect.cfm , shows us; Tacoma, St. Louis, Dallas & Kansas City have a 500 year level of flood protection, New Orleans has a 250 year level, and Sacramento has barely a 100 year level.
Governor floats floodplain development curbs
Plan would limit building in high-risk areas until steps are taken for protection.
By Deb Kollars - Bee Staff Writer
Published 5:04 am PDT Wednesday, June 6, 2007
In the eye-opening days after Hurricane Katrina, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger went up in a helicopter to survey swollen rivers, declared a levee emergency, and pushed for a historic bond package to raise nearly $5 billion for better flood protection.
Now, the Republican governor and his top water leaders are wading into some of the state's trickiest flood control waters: possibly placing limits on new developments in high-risk areas until flood protection measures are in motion.
In a state where new houses and new Applebee's restaurants pop up on the landscape almost overnight, the proposal has created a buzz in the state Capitol.
