Describing the acquiring of 200 year flood protection, which the Folsom Dam improvements will result in, as the best that can be done—considering New Orleans had a 250 year flood protection level when Katrina hit—is politico speak at its finest.
The level of flood protection Sacramento needs, matching that of other major river cities (Tacoma, St. Louis, Dallas & Kansas City) is 500 years and can be obtained by building the Auburn Dam.
Politicians hail launch of Folsom Dam project
For $1.3 billion, it'll double area's flood protection by 2015.
By Cathy Locke - clocke@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PST Saturday, January 12, 2008
With a series of bangs, streaks of light and smoke rose above the Folsom Dam overlook about 1 p.m. Friday in a pyrotechnic display marking the official groundbreaking for a $1.3 billion project that will double the current level of flood protection for the Sacramento area.
"Short of building an ark, this is the best protection we can offer the citizens of Sacramento," Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne told a crowd of federal, state and local officials gathered in the parking area off Folsom Dam Road.
Kempthorne was joined on the dais by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; U.S. Reps. John Doolittle, R-Rocklin, Dan Lungren, R-Gold River, and Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento; state Sens. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, and Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento; and Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo.
All hailed the project, which will include construction of an auxiliary spillway, as a model of bipartisanship and cooperation among governmental agencies. The undertaking is a joint effort of the federal Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Central Valley Flood Protection Board and the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency.
The project, to be completed in 2015, is designed to protect the Sacramento area from a 200-year flood. The auxiliary spillway will include a 1,000-foot-long approach channel; a concrete control structure, including six submerged gates; a 3,000-foot-long spillway chute; and a stilling basin. Also included is work to shore up dikes around the lake.
