This month’s issue is dedicated to the working waterfront and those individuals who keep the currents of water-born commerce flowing.
By Jah Mackey
Published: May, 2011
This month’s issue is dedicated to the working waterfront and those individuals who keep the currents of water-born commerce flowing. The very ferry upon which you may be riding is piloted and maintained by dedicated professionals who love the water. But what about some of the more unsung heroes—those forgotten men and women who are literally at the foundation of the waterfront?
I’m talking about the workers who maintain the levees and water barrier systems that actually allow docks, fuel stations, marinas and ferry stops to be built and accessed by the public. In the
Delta, we have a large and complicated levee system that extends for nearly 1,200 miles.
One significant portion of that intricate system is the ring levee that surrounds West Sacramento. Most people are unaware that West Sacramento is in fact an island; there are so many bridges that run between West Sacramento and the mainland that it can be difficult to identify one boundary from the next.
The events surrounding Hurricane Katrina in 2005 sparked national debates from coast to coast about levee design, construction and maintenance. In February 2006, following sustained heavy rainfall and runoff, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for California’s levee system, commissioning up to $500 million of state funds to repair and evaluate state/federal project levees. This declaration was a necessary step in preventing possible catastrophic consequences of storm damage.
Following the emergency declaration, Schwarzenegger directed the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to secure the necessary means to fast-track repairs of critical erosion sites. In addition, California’s lengthy environmental permitting process was streamlined without compromising the protection of the important aquatic and terrestrial species inhabiting the river’s ecosystem. Repairs to state/federal project levees are being conducted under the Levee Repairs Program funded by Section 821 of the Disaster Preparedness and Flood Prevention Bond Act of 2006.
To date, nearly 300 levee repair sites have been identified, with more than 100 of the most critical sites having already been completed with emergency funds. Some of those repairs have been in West Sacramento. Additional repairs are either in progress or scheduled to be completed in the near future, and still more repair sites are in the process of being identified, planned and prioritized.
In addition to the funding sources discussed above, West Sacramento is funding its levee work through a novel combination of sales and property taxes and developer fees which will account for roughly $50-75 million of the approximately $460 million needed to complete all of the necessary repairs. It is estimated that the California will add an additional $125 million to the project and federal government will make up the difference.
West Sacramento ProgramGoals
• Reduce the risk of a Katrina-like disaster to the community, protecting the safety of 47,000 residents and over $3 billion in property value.
• Preserve the previous federal investment by addressing deficiencies that remain in the still-active congressionally-authorized West Sacramento Project.
• Protect facilities of regional and national significance, including the Union Pacific main railroad line, US-50, I-80, the regional USPS mail processing center, the regional DWR flood fight facility, the California Highway Patrol Academy, and the Port of West Sacramento.
DWR is the lead agency for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Erosion Repairs Program, while the United States Army Corps of Engineers is the lead agency for the Sacramento River Bank Protection Project, the PL 84-99 Rehabilitation Program and the Calfed Levee Stability Program.
Overall Program Goals
• Leverage local and federal funding and maximize funding to repair the maximum number of sites with available Bond 1E funding.
• Repair critical sites before the ensuing high water event and prioritize remaining sites based on severity of damage and consequences of failure.
• To the extent practical, ensure that repairs fit into long-term strategies, including the legal mandate of 200-year flood protection for urban areas.
For more information on the levee projects for West Sacramento, please visit: http://cityofwestsacramento.org/city/flood/default.asp and for information about California Levee repair priorities, please visit: http://www.water.ca.gov/levees.
