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Report grim on Valley flood risks

Published in the Stockton Record on 02/03/05

Report grim on Valley flood risks

By Dana Nichols
Record Staff Writer
Published Thursday, February 3, 2005

Hundreds of thousands of Central Valley homes face a growing risk of flooding, and neither state nor local agencies have the money or political muscle to adequately protect them, according to a state report.

The danger is growing as thousands of new homes are built every year behind levees in cities up and down the Valley, said the new report published by the California Department of Water Resources.

DWR staff next week will present the report "Responding to California's Flood Crisis," at a meeting of the California Bay Delta Authority, or CALFED, board. CALFED is a consortium of state and federal agencies working to secure the Delta's water supply and restore the estuary.

The report calls for sweeping changes to the state's flood-control system, including creation of a Central Valley flood-control authority with power to impose taxes needed for levee maintenance, a mandatory flood-insurance program to pay for losses and changes in the state constitution to make it easier for flood-control districts to raise taxes.

"It is a policy discussion that needs to take place because of the intense urbanization that is taking place in the Central Valley, and you don't have to look very far to see it in San Joaquin County," said state Sen. Michael Machado, D-Linden.

Homes are rising in the low-lying zone between Interstate 5 and the San Joaquin River in Lathrop and in Stockton's Weston Ranch, Brookside and Spanos Park developments.

Even though developers usually pay for levee improvements, the homes are still in places at risk of flooding, the report said. Also, improvements to levees in one place can force more floodwater into other locations.

Manteca Mayor Willie Weatherford last week sent CALFED a letter complaining that Lathrop's plans for levee improvements to protect new developments would push more floodwater toward Manteca.

Weatherford, Machado and other political observers say cities eager to grow are unlikely to put adequate restrictions on growth in floodplains. ::: Advertisement :::

"When you have a commodity, housing, and you are not building enough, a lot of stuff just goes by the wayside," Weatherford said.

Machado said reforms should give regional flood-control districts oversight over land-use decisions so that they can prevent cities from building in vulnerable areas.

But such new limits on city decision making sound like a bad idea to Lathrop Mayor Gloryanna Rhodes.

"Lathrop really has nowhere else to build," Rhodes said. "They continue to take away our ability to generate revenues in order for us to survive. They are taking away our monies if they are taking away our ability to plan and develop."

State officials fear that such decisions by local governments can end up costing all of the state's taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

A November, 2003 court decision -- Paterno vs. the State of California -- gives the state a powerful incentive to reduce the risk of floods.

The court found that when a government entity operates a flood-control system such as a levee, even if the levee was built by another agency, then the operator of the flood-control system is liable for damage when the levee fails.

The case involved a 1986 levee break in Yuba County. This year's state budget includes $500 million to compensate people who lost homes in that flood.

And last summer's Jones Tract flood near Stockton cost the state $45 million just to plug the levees, make repairs and pump out the island.

Susan Dell'Osso, project manager of River Islands At Lathrop, a 4,800-acre development on a levee-protected island west of Lathrop, said she generally agreed with the conclusions of the DWR white paper, although she
wouldn't want to see any reduction in local government control.

"I think the state is in a crisis on this one," she said of the report's recommendation for a system to raise money and expand maintenance of levees.

Dell'Osso said River Islands is addressing flood concerns at its own cost by widening levees and making other improvements to give the area a level of flood protection twice that required by the federal government.

Former state senator and current CALFED board member Patrick Johnston of Stockton said the state should make a commitment to fix weak Delta levees but that local governments have an obligation too to reduce flood risks and protect the Delta.

"Every year, local governments like the city of Stockton and the city of Lathrop seek to gobble up Delta islands in the name of economic development," he said.
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* To reach reporter Dana Nichols, phone (209) 546-8295 or e-mail dnichols@recordnet.com

CALFED meeting
The California Bay Delta Authority board of directors and advisory board will have a joint meeting at 9 a.m. on Feb. 9 at the Sacramento Convention Center, 1400 J St., Room 315, Sacramento.

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