Sunday, March 25, 2007
West Sacramento Flood Peril
Seeping levees need repairs/upgrades for protection against flooding
West Sacramento is finding that its levees need work (Sacramento River, Yolo County, California). They are planning to vote in May on a local tax assessment for levee repairs, similar to the voting currently underway just across the river in Sacramento. "West Sacramento also is considering imposing new developer fees to raise more money for flood improvements."Its unfortunate that it took the devastation of New Orleans to focus our attention and get more action on the flooding risks elsewhere in the country. Local communities must pay the costs of protecting themselves against flooding through taxes and also through flood insurance for homes and businesses. When all of these costs are considered wouldn't it be smarter to develop homes and businesses on higher land that is not prone to flooding and leave the flood-prone lands for farming, recreation, nature preserves, etc.? Everybody who cares about issues like wise use of taxpayer dollars and preserving free-flowing rivers should pay some attention to this. Realistically we need to protect existing developments against flooding. The local funding contribution for flood control projects should be high; people who get the benefits of developing an area must accept the risks. Zoning regulations should be set to direct future developments onto lands that are less susceptible to flooding. Federal taxpayers should not be expected to provide bailouts for flood control on land that never should have been developed in the first place.
West Sacramento re-examines flood peril - sacbee.com 25march2007.
West Sacramento Flood Protection Agency.
More about: River Conservation and Flood Control.
Tags: rivers, flood, levee.
Labels: conservation
