Publication Date: Friday, April 01, 2005
Getting feds involved in flood control is tough
Getting feds involved in flood control is tough
(April 01, 2005) Local officials try to expand scope of project to bolster partnership with Army Corps of Engineers
by Bill D'Agostino
The federal government's consent to partner on plans for a flood-control project along the San Francisquito Creek is not easy for local officials to obtain.
Much of the creek's banks are privately owned and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would have to pay for easement rights or land purchases -- a costly proposition, due to the area's high property values.
There are also sensitive environmental issues to consider, including threatened steelhead trout that travel the natural watershed.
But the local flood-control agency -- the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority (JPA) -- hopes that by adding a second, simpler component to the complex project, the federal government will be more inclined to ultimately agree to the investment.
The JPA last week considered expanding its mission well beyond the creek to include helping protect local residents in Palo Alto, Menlo Park and East Palo Alto from the threat of tidal flooding from the other direction: San Francisco Bay.
An estimated 750 homeowners in Palo Alto pay for flood insurance to protect against the possibility that the bay will flood their properties during storms and high tides. Those homeowners, and nearby businesses, such as the Palo Alto Airport and Municipal Golf Course, could get relief if the JPA accepts the Corps' offer to include tidal-flow protection in the JPA's mission.
Projects securing added protection from tidal flooding are occurring throughout the South Bay as part of the Coastal Conservancy's planned restoration of 25 square miles of salt ponds, with which the Army Corps also is involved.
The JPA was not initially created to deal with tidal-flooding issues. It was formed after the San Francisquito Creek jumped its banks in 1998, causing an estimated $28 million in damage to homes in Palo Alto, Menlo Park and East Palo Alto.
Congresswoman Anna Eshoo helped the fledgling agency win approval to begin studying the creek for a possible federal project in June 2002. Funding for the ongoing study requires new Congressional approval each year.
To eventually partner on an actual flood-control construction project for the creek, the Corps' study will need to conclude that the high cost of the project has large monetary benefit, according to Cynthia D'Agosta, the JPA's executive director.
By folding the tidal-flow project -- a simpler project because it involves land already held by public agencies -- into the larger flood-control project, JPA leaders hope the Corps' cost/benefit analysis will become more favorable.
"That could be a big benefit for us," D'Agosta said.
At last week's meeting, JPA board members were receptive to the Corps' offer, although they had numerous questions, D'Agosta said.
The biggest potential pitfall is the possibility that the tidal-flooding portion of the project would slow the timing for the creek portion of the project, which residents have been clamoring for since the 1998 flood.
D'Agosta discounts that: "I don't think it will slow our project down at all," she said.
Some Palo Alto residents are demanding early removal of the Chaucer Street bridge, which has been a choke-point for past creek overflows. But the JPA and Corps agree that the creek must be considered as a whole, and that removing the bridge would increase downstream flooding potential, primarily affecting East Palo Alto, where a major flood could be deep enough to become deadly in some neighborhoods.
At its next meeting April 28, the JPA board could officially accept or reject the new offer.
Even if the JPA turns down the Corps' offer, Palo Alto will likely get relief from tidal flooding, D'Agosta acknowledged. The Santa Clara Valley Water District has agreed to help Palo Alto and other Santa Clara County cities build higher levees for tidal protections, she said.
However, Menlo Park and East Palo Alto may not be so lucky. The San Mateo County flood-control agency declined the Army Corps' offer to partner on a tidal-flooding project earlier this year. That's why the Corps initially asked the JPA if it was interested.
The JPA could also agree to help Redwood City, another San Mateo County city currently lacking a local sponsor for the Army Corps' project.
Staff Writer Bill D'Agostino can be e-mailed at bdagostino@paweekly.com.
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