By Tom Foley, President, CCRG. January 31, 2006 Submitted by Dr. Dale Smith, Alfa Omega Associates
The Concerned Citizens for Responsible Growth, Inc. (CCRG) website asserts: “The citizens of California deserve the Governor’s leadership for what CCRG calls the 5-5-500 flood protection plan. 5 years – 5 billion for 500-year flood protection for all Central Valley populated areas.”
This idea did not originate with the CCRG, but with a Presidential Commission, articulated clearly by retired General Gerald E. Galloway, PE, PhD, University of Maryland Professor of Engineering in testimony before the House of Representatives on October 27, 2005:
“The massive flooding that occurred in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina was, in part, a reflection of a growing lack of attention to our national flood damage reduction program.
We recommended that population centers be given a higher level of protection than most now have, roughly equivalent to a 500 year event.
In the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, it was stated in Congress that ‘…destructive floods upon the rivers…constitute a menace to national welfare. The mission was straightforward, ‘Don’t let catastrophes happen.’
Over the last 70 years, we have lowered the protection by many federal projects to the 100-year level, a level that has a one in four chance of being exceed in the life of a 30-year mortgage.
It is amazing to me that the capital city of California, Sacramento, is only protected to the 100-year level. Can the nation afford to risk losing another major metropolitan area?”
Surely the Sacramento Bee story of January 6, 2006 was good news. “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bond plan unveiled Thursday would dedicate $2.5 billion to repairing California’s aging weirs and levees.” But is it really good news?
“It’s huge,” said Les Harder, acting deputy director of the state Department of Water Resources. “It doesn’t cure everything, but it’s … probably as much for flood control as the state could apply to the problem in the next five to 10 years.”
This bureaucratic attitude is questionable. General Galloway says this region deserves 500-year protection, but the Governor’s plan is only 100-year protection. Harder was totally surprised when I told him about
Galloway’s 500-year protection goals in his office the day before Thanksgiving. Do Harder’s Sac Bee statements reflect official California flood policy?
Galloway, 38-year Army Corps of Engineers veteran made three points to Congress October 27, 2005 about the lowering of standards that came from a combination of:
A fixation on economic benefit-cost ratios to the exclusion of non-economic factors.
Unwarranted belief that the 100 year standard of the National Flood Insurance program represented a safe level of protection for a levee system.
The institution of cost-sharing where local sponsors were only willing to fund a minimum level of protection.
The 1-5-06 Bee reported: “Before any money can be raised, though, state lawmakers would have to approve bond legislation that would then go to voters. The Legislature would have to act quickly if the issue is to land on the June ballot.”
Will these funds materialize? Dan Walters cites the urgency in today’s Bee: “State and local politicians will be playing Russian roulette with the lives of tens of thousands of innocent people if they continue to allow floodplain development without ensuring that levees and other flood-control systems have been strengthened to much-higher levels of protection.”
Was General Galloway merely a voice crying in the DC wilderness when he told Congress?
“We need to take an approach to flood damage reduction that brings all of the players to the table in a collaborative approach that shares responsibilities and funding.
“Given the tragedies we have seen over the last weeks, the governments and the public must be prepared to take action to ‘do it right’ – to take recommendations out of the too hard box and move ahead.”
In California? Not yet. Dan Walters had it right when he wrote on October 30, 2005 just two days after the Galloway testimony:
ACTION ON FLOOD PROTECTION SWIRLS AIMLESSLY IN POLITICAL WHIRLPOOL
For Details on 5-5-500 — see ccrg.cc.
Website Address, Galloway Statement: http://www.house.gov/transportation/water/10-20-05/galloway.pdf
Tom Foley is a long-time Yuba County rancher and founder of Concerned Citizens for Responsible Growth, Inc. The Sacramento Bee quoted him saying: “It’s glaringly obvious developers are being accommodated and public safety is being forgotten.” Foley is retired from ranching, now working in community service. Alfa Omega Associates in Auburn, CA represents CCGA and posts this article for Calitics readers.
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