DWR Announces $246M for Flood Protection

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced this week proposed funding recommendations for projects that will lower flood risk for thousands of Central Valley residents and also improve wildlife habitat.

The projects would be funded through $246 million in Proposition 1E funding that was appropriated as part of the $1 billion drought-relief legislative package enacted in March 2015.

The proposed projects further the goal of the Governor’s California Water Action Plan to increase flood protection for the more than seven million people and $580 billion in assets exposed to flood hazard in California.

“We are in the midst of drought now,” said DWR Director Mark Cowin, “but flood looms every winter in California, especially in the Central Valley, where our major rivers drain. Integrated, multi benefit projects like those we announced for tentative funding today improve public safety and help the state cope with the more extreme weather we expect with climate change.”

DWR proposes to fund seven projects, along with $104 million previously authorized by the Legislature for improvements in the city of West Sacramento. Together, the projects will help provide a higher level of flood protection for urban areas behind Federal-State levees.

The projects also collectively involve nearly 20 miles of levee repair and improvement that would provide a range of potential benefits including:

• Protection for 600,000 people and over $100 billion in assets;
• Four miles of setback levee, providing 185 acres of increased habitat in the waterway;
• Over 2,000 acres of ecosystem habitat opportunities.

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