California Water News Daily Your Source For Water News in California
Construction on a new flood protection project in Stockton has begun.
Officials were on hand Friday for a groundbreaking ceremony for the Tenmile Slough levee project in Stockton. The State says it is a critical component of a larger Lower San Joaquin River Project, a $1.95 billion project funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the California Department of Water Resources, and the San Joaquin Area Flood Control Agency. Once completed, the project will provide improved flood protection for 122,000 residents and $28.7 billion in property along the San Joaquin River for the North and Central Stockton Area.
The Tenmile Slough levee segment is rated as the most critically deficient in the Central Valley levee system. Following historic flooding in 1997, DWR and the Central Valley Flood Protection Board identified significant flood risk in the San Joaquin River Basin. Federal, state and local partners worked together to evaluate and design the necessary improvements to respond to these risks.
The Lower San Joaquin River Project is a crucial part of the system-wide flood risk reduction effort outlined in the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan, which provides a comprehensive framework for improving flood protection in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins. This project represents a critical milestone in efforts to protect urban communities, one of many focus areas of the Plan.
“Protecting the people and economy of San Joaquin County from the devastation of extreme flooding is enormously important. Projects like this pay for themselves many times over as shifts between extreme wet and dry conditions become more common,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “California is committed to making these investments in flood infrastructure across the state to adapt to our new climate reality.”
The Lower San Joaquin River Project is just one of several major flood control projects in the state that collectively represent billions of dollars of new and improved infrastructure to protect communities, including:
- The Pajaro River Flood Risk Management Project, a $600 million project that will improve flood protection for the communities of Pajaro and Watsonville. The State will cover all non-federal costs, approximately $210 million.
- The American River Common Features Project, a $1.85 billion project that will improve flood protection for the greater Sacramento area and over 660,000 people.
- The recently completed Yuba Basin ($440 million) and Sutter Basin ($320 million) flood projects that reduced flood risk for 135,000 people.
