ShareThisBy GLEN MARTIN
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger probably will face a difficult decision when the Legislature asks him to sign a bill that will reduce his influence over the Reclamation Board, the agency in charge of the state's flood-control system.
The Assembly approved on Wednesday Sen. Dean Florez's bill, which would add two members appointed by the Legislature to what is now a seven-member board of gubernatorial appointees. The legislation, approved by the Senate in May, also requires that all members receive Senate confirmation.
The bill's passage comes a year after Schwarzenegger was criticized for firing the old board, which had required developers to build expensive flood-control levees. Florez and many environmentalists say the new Reclamation Board is more lenient with developers who want to build in flood plains.
Darren Ng, a spokesman for the governor, said Schwarzenegger typically doesn't comment about pending legislation. But Florez, D-Shafter (Kern County), said the governor has fought efforts to remake the board. Florez said it is essential to change the board's structure before, November when voters could approve a $4 billion flood-control bond _ an initiative the governor supports.
"As soon as the governor fired the (old) board, he put on members who ... immediately began a pro-development tilt," Florez said. "I think it would be advantageous for the governor to sign this bill when it comes to his desk because it would show he's actually willing to do something about real reform."
One year after Hurricane Katrina demonstrated the necessity of strong levees, development of low-lying areas in the Central Valley and Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta has not slowed. The land is flat, easy to grade and close to existing population centers. Depending on who is doing the counting, 120,000 to 150,000 new homes are planned from Marysville to Stockton.
From one perspective, holding the Reclamation Board culpable for sprawling housing tracts in flood-prone areas is unwarranted. The agency is responsible for authorizing and maintaining levees; local governments decide where to put new subdivisions.
The previous board _ which included a geologist, environmentalists and people with backgrounds in local government _ discouraged flood-plain developments by requiring construction of expensive levees before local governments could issue building permits. In some cases that slowed or even stopped developments.
The new board members _ each with agribusiness or engineering backgrounds _ backed away from that aggressive stance.
With two projects in particular _ Plumas Lake project in Yuba City (Sutter County) and River Islands in Lathrop (San Joaquin County) _ the new board overturned tough levee requirements, essentially allowing construction to proceed as the developers' proposed. Together the two projects account for more than 20,000 new homes.
During a June 16 discussion on River Islands, Reclamation Board Vice President Francis "Butch" Hodgkins said he didn't think the River Islands project would be the "end of the delta," even though the site was submerged by the swollen San Joaquin River in 1997. River Islands ultimately will consist of 11,000 homes and a large retail complex.
Transcripts show that Hodgkins worried that the project, which he described as a good plan for a bad location, might set a precedent for more building in the delta. Still, said Hodgkins, "I guess for me, it's going to come down to the fact that ... you know, the project's here, it's ready to go."
Hodgkins said it would be unfair to delay River Islands, and criticized other agencies' for not considering earthquake risks to levees. He bemoaned CalFed, the joint state-federal effort created in 1995 to save the Northern California environment and address levee problems while supplying water to Central Valley growers and booming areas of Southern California.
"I simply don't think ... I would feel justified in asking the (River Islands) project proponent to wait until we have a solution for the delta," Hodgkins said during the meeting.
Earlier this month, the Natural Resources Defense Council sued the Reclamation Board for its role in approving River Islands. NRDC's Barry Nelson said Hodgkins' comments show that the board is disconnected from its mission.
"It's remarkable the board is not pounding the table at CalFed to get them to address the delta's problems," Nelson said. "The Reclamation Board has the responsibility of assuring adequate flood protection. They can do it with CalFed or they can do it independently, but they have to do it."
The Reclamation Board has referred questions about the lawsuit to the governor's office. A spokesman said Schwarzenegger stands by his appointees.
Most of California's levees, flood experts agree, are in lamentable shape. Cities like Dallas, Tacoma and Kansas City have levees built to withstand floods so unusually damaging as to be seen only every 500 years. But according to the Sacramento Area Flood Control Association, Sacramento has just 85-year levees. Before Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans had levees with 250-year strength.
Current board members say they are trying to hasten levee improvements, not delay them.
The Plumas Lake project envisions plans for about 12,000 new homes on land that has flooded several times during the last 30 years due to high water levels on the Yuba, Bear and Feather rivers. In 1997, the land was submerged by as much as 10 feet of water _ a flood that killed three people.
The former board was concerned that the site had inadequate levees _ far below the 100-year flood protection standards now required by the state for residential areas, members said. They limited the number of Plumas Lake building permits to 700 for 2006.
The new board lifted that restriction and Yuba County was allowed to issue 2,000 building permits this year. Ben Carter, the president of the current board, said the action will actually speed levee improvement because the developer pays a $29,300 fee for levee work for each new home permit. That benefits current residents and future ones, he said.
Carter said nobody on the current board denies the tremendous risk implicit in building on California's flood plains.
"But I guess the board simply doesn't like to be put in the position of making land-use decisions," Carter said. "Our jurisdiction is not overseeing development. Our role is (oversight) of the state's flood-control system."
