Posted on 09/10/2005 1:07:04 PM PDT by SmithL
A bill that some called a "baby steps" effort to deal with California's colossal flood risks did not pass out of the Legislature this week, prompting concern that there is little appetite to deal with the messy, expensive problem of neglected levees.
Images of a submerged New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina helped revive the bill from a months-long slumber. But those pictures of death and despair did not prompt enough votes in the state Senate to bring the bill forward as an urgency measure before the session closed Thursday night.
Sell It Yourself The bill, AB 1665 by Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, would have renamed the state Reclamation Board as the Central Valley Flood Management Board. It would have assigned the board the task of assessing 1,600 miles of aging levees on the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers, mapping flood-hazard areas on those rivers, and annually notifying property owners in those hazard zones.
The bill was sponsored by the state Department of Water Resources. It would have enacted the simplest recommendations in a January report by the department on the Central Valley's flood risks. That report called the Valley's flood control system a "ticking time bomb" because of neglected levee maintenance and inadequate funding.
"Even with any urgency that may have happened with Katrina and the levees in New Orleans, trying to do anything ambitious is really hard," said Jim Metropulos, a legislative analyst for the Sierra Club, which supported the bill. "Flood issues get to be very contentious."
The Department of Water Resources owns the 1,600-mile levee network and delegates most of the upkeep to local levee maintenance districts. The bill would have required those districts to file annual reports with the state on the condition of the levees.
Those districts also supported the bill,...
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Geeze, you'd think they'd get the picture after NO. You know what will happen if they did flood, they'd blame it on the Federal Government. In conclusion, something which is supposed to be managed by the local government, should it fail, the blame falls immediately on the federal government. Idiots. I'm tired of this bureaucratic horse-h-t.
What a riot this guy is. The Sierra Club was involved in several "contentious" lawsuits against the Corp of Engineers in NOLA. They're still wiping the blood from their hands.
not really...hardly anyone cares about california falling into the ocean...and if it did, the blame would fall on who!? Governa' Arnold and the Republican party...ugh...regardless of the fact that California has said it could happen for years. So no one would care if the levees failed, but the fact that NO got flooded from a hurricane and they made it a race issue, plus the fact that there was supposed to be a gay pride parade (Southern Decadence? Kind of like the Democratic Party), makes it so much more talked about in the media. Plus, they can use it to blame Bush...Bush didn't ask the governor, Bush didn't provide transportation, Bush didn't do this, Bush didn't do that...give me a break. California is probably next to be a national disaster. Hopefully Hollywood won't even know it's coming.
When levees break in the Delta expensive farm land is destroyed by the salt water drawn in from the bay. The aquatic life of the delta and rivers is wrecked. The recreational industry takes a massive hit, the flooding can destroy communities and towns. It's pretty serious stuff.
I used to camp in the under water level Bethel Island until a couple years ago a similar earthern levee broke due to (they suspect) the action of some gophers. When these levees break, they frequently leave it water like "Frank's Tract" which is a nice fishing region now.
I suspect on Bethel Island, there will not be enough warning to get everyone out over the two lane bridge.
LA got 1.9 mm $ this year, followed by CA who got 1.4 mm $. These are the two top states for getting fed flood control largess.
"hardly anyone cares if California falls into the ocean or floods."
That's a very cruel thing to say; No compassion in your heart?
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Your right, I shouldn't have said that. I apologize.
Apology accepted! Thank You.
God save us from these fools in the Legislature!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.