Images of catastrophic flooding in New Orleans have focused renewed attention on California’s aging levees and what many see as the growing vulnerability of the state’s water supply system.
In the weeks since devastating floods poured into one of America’s most famous cities in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, water and flood experts and the media have drawn eerie parallels between New Orleans and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
Both areas are below sea level and protected by levees, many of which are under-maintained and date back more than a century. Both have seen tremendous changes to their natural ecology and the loss of wetlands that serve as a buffer between urban areas and the elements.
And in both cases, experts for years have warned of the growing likelihood of a major flood event that could bring significant damage to property and human life.
Growing Risk Seen for Levees
Dr. Jeffrey Mount, a UC Davis geology professor and frequent speaker at ACWA events, cautioned first in 2004 and in numerous media reports that there is a 2-in-3 chance of a flood or earthquake causing a widespread levee failure in the Delta in the next 50 years. The risk is growing, he noted, because levee improvements are inadequately funded and many Delta islands are subsiding, putting even more pressure on the fragile levee system.
Further, a long-term climate change appears to be under way that many scientists believe will result in more rain and less snow, triggering earlier snowmelt and more severe flood events. Sea level could rise by as much as 12-16 inches in the Delta, according to some projections.
ACWA in its recent document, “No Time to Waste: A Blueprint for California Water,” cited vulnerability of both the Delta and the rest of the Central Valley Flood Control System. As indicated in the 12 Blueprint recommendations in the accompanying box, the state needs to address levees in the Delta throughout the watershed.
Though California does not face the threat of hurricanes, it is prone to powerful storms such as the “Pineapple Express” that dump massive amounts of warm rain on the Central Valley and the Sierra snow pack. Mount and others say it’s not hard to imagine a flood strong enough to breach one or more levees and send water pouring into low-lying Delta islands. A strong earthquake along one of several faults running through the Delta could accomplish much the same thing.
The result could be catastrophic, not only for people and property in the area, but also for the state’s water supply system, which relies on Delta levees to prevent salty water from the Bay from tainting fresh water as it moves toward the State Water Project and Central Valley Project export pumps in the southern Delta.
Even areas that rely on water diverted upstream of the Delta will be affected. A serious levee failure would likely force water project operators to shut down the pumps to keep saltwater out of the aqueducts that bring water to 22 million Californians and more than 7 million acres of farmland. Huge releases from upstream reservoirs such as Folsom, Oroville and Shasta would be required to flush out the seawater, a process that could take months and drastically reduce the amount of water available for everyone dependent on the state’s largest watershed.
Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt recently called the Delta’s vulnerability one of the biggest problems facing California. Sounding themes similar to those raised by ACWA in its recent document, “No Time to Waste: A Blueprint for California Water,” Babbitt told members of the Little Hoover Commission in August that the state’s leaders must move quickly to address the issue before it becomes a crisis. He noted that everything should be on the table, including the concept of moving water around the Delta instead of through it. Former Governor Wilson basically agreed in his testimony.
ACWA’s Blueprint describes several threats to the Delta’s long-term viability as a water supply source and as an ecosystem. Citing risks such as levee instability, land subsidence, major flood events, rising sea levels and earthquakes, the Blueprint calls on Governor Schwarzenegger to appoint a high-level panel of independent experts to evaluate the Delta’s long-term vulnerability and recommend actions to reduce risks.
ACWA Executive Director Steve Hall told members at a recent Bay-Delta Public Advisory Committee that looming Delta risks defy easy fixes and require a new approach to the Delta. The scope of the problem has changed since a decade ago, when most people defined the Delta issue as a conflict between water project operations and fish. “The original problems were tough, but these new ones are even tougher,” Hall said. “We need an entirely new approach to the problem.”
Authority Discusses Levee Risks, Need for Action
Delta levees were also a key topic at the September 8 meeting of the California Bay-Delta Authority. Bill Jones, a former secretary of state and Assembly member who now represents the San Joaquin region on the Authority, said Hurricane Katrina should be a wake-up call for California that we must rethink the way we move water through the Delta.
“Today there is water standing six feet deep in New Orleans,” Jones said. “We would have no water for two-thirds of the state if we lost the Delta to a flood like we lost New Orleans. We are on the verge of ignoring a problem that clearly has been evidenced to us in the devastation in the south. For us not to reassess (Delta conveyance) would be a big mistake.”
Noting that the CALFED Bay-Delta Program chose not to pursue moving water around the Delta instead of through it when the Record of Decision was signed in 2000, Jones said things have changed significantly since then.
Patrick Johnston, a former state senator who now represents the Delta region on the Authority, agreed that all options should be considered to address the Delta’s vulnerability. “I think it is fair to review all options that might solve these problems – and not fall back to defending our prior positions from a decade ago.”
He also called for the State Reclamation Board to apply higher standards when considering development proposals in the Delta, and said the Delta Protection Commission should have a stronger role in local government land use decision-making.
DWR Levee Study Moves Ahead, But Legislation Stalls
The Department of Water Resources is carrying out a comprehensive study of Delta levees to assess their condition, evaluate risks such as earthquakes and subsidence, and quantify the amount of funding needed to keep the levee system viable. The department expects to complete the study in 2006.
Steve Verigin, DWR acting chief deputy director, told Authority members that the CALFED Program envisioned spending $450 million over the first seven years of the program to repair and upgrade Delta levees. In fact, he said, less than $100 million has been available over the past five years to do the work. Ironically, the cost of the single levee break on Jones Tract last year will also total about $100 million.
DWR has estimated it would cost about $2 billion to improve levees throughout the Central Valley to provide adequate flood protection. In a January report titled, “Flood Warnings,” DWR called the ailing levee system “a ticking time bomb” that exposes state taxpayers to tremendous liability for potential damages.
A bill sponsored by the department to make incremental changes in the state’s approach to flood management failed to pass before the Legislature adjourned September 9. The bill, AB 1665 by Assembly Member John Laird of Santa Cruz, would have implemented some of the recommendations made by DWR in its January report, including requiring flood-map updates and notification to property owners in flood zones.
Laird has vowed to pursue the bill next year. Other legislators have said they will seek additional bond funds for levee repairs.
Feinstein, Pombo Seek Federal Appropriation
At the federal level, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with levee work outlined in last year’s CALFED legislation. Though the legislation authorized $90 million for Delta levee repairs, the money has yet to be appropriated.
“If we don’t address this problem, we may suffer the same fate as Louisiana — it’s just a matter of time,” Feinstein and Pombo wrote in a joint letter to Corps chief Lt. General Carl Strock. “A massive Delta failure could severely harm the area’s farms, its rapidly growing towns, and the majority of the state’s water supply, which passes through the Delta.”
The letter asked the Corps to provide a progress report on its levee efforts and suggested the agency should work with the state to study long-term solutions for protecting the Delta and California’s water supply system.
Governor Schwarzenegger Sept. 14 wrote to Feinstein and Pombo to request their support for levee repair funding.
Meanwhile, an effort is developing to enlist the entire California delegation on a “dear colleague” letter to the president, requesting funding to be included in next year’s administration (fiscal 2007) budget request.
For additional information contact Jennifer Persike, ACWA's Director of Strategic Coordination and Public Affairs at jenniferp@acwa.com or 916.441.4545.
