As Hurricane Harvey hits Gulf Coast, Central Valley must prepare for the coming storm: “In issuing its flood protection plan, the Central Valley Flood Protection Board achieved a rare feat. It called for more taxes and more land use regulations, yet won the support of both farmers and environmentalists.” Read more from The Sacramento Bee here: As Hurricane Harvey hits Gulf Coast, Central Valley must prepare for the coming storm
Legislation in 2008 required the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to prepare a flood protection plan, the first comprehensive flood plan for the Central Valley in 100 years, and for the Central Valley Flood Protection Board (CVFPB) to hold public hearings, review, and adopt the plan in 2012. The Central Valley Flood Protection Plan (CVFPP), a strategic and long-range plan for improving flood risk management in the Central Valley, was adopted by the Board in June 2012.
The 2008 legislation also requires DWR to update the CVFPP every 5 years to incorporate new information about flood management needs, advancements in the best available science, and new policy considerations. … read more
The engineers who scrambled to prevent Delta farms from flooding this year have long insisted that the levees surrounding those low-lying islands are not as fragile as they’re sometimes portrayed to be.
Now, after seven months of high water without a single major island flooding, those engineers feel validated.
“We hear so many bad things about the levees,” said engineer Gilbert Cosio, who works for a number of the rural reclamation districts run by farmers. “But we’ve been doing a lot of good the last 30 years. This kind of proves it. This was not the disaster it could have been.” Read more.
As the debate continues over how best to address California’s water needs, Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-09) has introduced new comprehensive legislation that would provide a long-term plan to improve water sustainability in California and across the country… Read more.
Big risk, big ideas: Flood control no longer just levees
DWR and Reclamation Recirculate Draft Environmental Document for Fremont Weir Adult Fish Passage Modification Project
Wastewater to Agriculture Project is First of its Kind
Ms. Emami attended the Government Leadership program at Sacramento State University and graduated on May 10, 2017. The program stressed strategic management, communication, improvement of business processes, and skills to build high performing teams. Ms. Emami will use those skills learned to help the Central Valley Flood Protection Board accomplish its mission.
Pictured (left to right): Executive Officer Leslie Gallagher, Acting Chief Engineer Mitra Emami, and Chief of Administration Lucy Montgomery
May 9th, 2017. Officials from Federal, State, and Local government departments came to celebrate the groundbreaking of West Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency’s (WSAFCA) Southport Levee Improvement Project. The project will improve 5.6 miles of levees along the west bank of the Sacramento River just south of the deep water ship channel. 1.9 miles of in-place improvements, and a new 3.7 mile setback levee will be constructed most likely over two years and will bring West Sacramento up to an Urban Level of Protection (200-year) mandated by SB-5 for a cost of approximately $170 million, shared between the Department of Water Resources and WSAFCA.
You can read more from Fox 40 News.
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Image: Central Valley grower uses high water flows to recharge groundwater
April 17, 2017 – From WEF’s Aquafornia. Bettina Boxall, Contact Reporter.
The water spread into every corner of the fields, beckoning wading ibises and egrets as it bathed long rows of sprouting grapevines. Several inches had covered the vineyard ground for a couple of months. But rather than draining it, Don Cameron was pouring more on.
“This is not about irrigation,” the sprawling farm’s manager kept telling his quizzical workers. “It’s about recharge. … I want all the water you can get into the grape fields now.” After a drought-busting winter, reservoirs up and down California are dumping water to make room for spring snowmelt. … read more
The California Department of Water Resources’ Flood Planning Office has released a revised draft of the San Joaquin River Basin-wide Feasibility Study (BWFS) (PDF: 40 MB).
The San Joaquin River BWFS primarily refines the large-scale actions consistent with the State Systemwide Investment Approach identified in the 2012 Central Valley Flood Protection Plan for the San Joaquin River basin. This draft addresses stakeholder review comments submitted during the review period that ended in November 2016. … read more
