There's been levee breaks over the years all over the delta, according to San Joaquin Area Flood Control Agency executive director Darren Suen.
Essentially, levees protect people from water; it's a physical barrier from our homes, schools, and neighborhoods, Suen tells CBS Sacramento. And there is a bill in the works to repair them.
"Those are the levee breaks that you don't see coming a lot of times they can happen at nighttime. What was unique about Jones Tract? It wasn't even raining," Suen said. "And that's the thing, you never know with levees, because the infrastructure, it isn't like you can see the cracks developing always. Sometimes you can, but a lot of times it's happening underneath, and it'll collapse from underneath, and those are the challenges of trying to anticipate when a levee will break, and so always the inspections and maintenance is critical."
Democratic state Senator Jerry McNerney introduced SB 872 that would direct $300 million annually in greenhouse gas reduction fund (GGRF) dollars to levee repairs in the delta and to shore up SWP's canals to prevent interruptions in essential water deliveries.
"Historically, California's water wars have pitted North against South, the environment versus agriculture," McNerney said. "SB 872 is a commonsense solution that brings traditional adversaries together to support vital water projects that will protect California's water and the delta, while also benefitting the entire state."
It's a bill backed by Suen and the San Joaquin Area Flood Control Agency, who signed a letter of support, Restore the Delta, and the State Water Contractors.
"We're really grateful for Senator McNerney, bringing this forward," Suen said. "He's been a champion for the delta in San Joaquin County, in flood protection, and also protecting water supply. And so, this bill is a great piece in the sense that it brings traditional adversaries together for all one common goal, and that is to protect levees, which will help protect life and safety, but also, specifically, levees that will protect our water supply system."
The bill would include, according to Suen, fixing their levees to prevent subsidence and saltwater intrusion. Suen told CBS Sacramento in the Sacramento-San Joaquin area, "we are surrounded by levees."
We just may not see the 1,100 miles of them in the delta that transports water to around 30-million Californians, Suen says, because many are underground. Suen also said these levied systems were started during the Gold Rush and a lot of them haven't been maintained up to "federal standards."
"A lot of these levees have been built at least over 100 years ago. There's a lot of levees that need help in maintenance, and the flood protection community has always struggled with getting adequate funding for levee maintenance," Suen said. "And so any help that we can get to fund this critical infrastructure is extremely important."
Suen also said a lot of the levees are in rural and agricultural areas.
"We see our roads and freeways all the time. We drive on them, but oftentimes the levees, they're out in rural and agricultural areas," Suen said. "They're not readily observable, in terms of when they have a problem, because it's underground a lot of times. So you don't see it always. Those are the things that we need to maintain focus on and provide some funding to make sure that these levees can be maintained."
There are also a lot of levees near urban areas, as Suen mentioned. Levees up against Brookside in Stockton they're repairing through the Army Corps of Engineers. In Stockton and Sacramento, there are levees up against neighborhoods. Suen appreciates the uniqueness of this bill in "uniting" agricultural, water supply, and flood protection communities.
"Seeing how flooding can destroy communities, but also seeing how when you have adequate infrastructure that can protect communities, those same communities can thrive and become great in their own way," Suen said. "Everybody's home is where the heart is, and so making sure we protect our homes and businesses is paramount."
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