Area legislators voice frustration after bid for $100M in levee repairs fails

‘The failure to prioritize our state’s infrastructure is incomprehensible’

State Sen. Jim Nielsen and Assemblyman James Gallagher were unable to persuade a legislative committee to allocate $100 million for levee repairs, Nielsen said Thursday night.

“The failure to prioritize our state’s infrastructure is incomprehensible,” Nielsen said in a statement. “Millions of Californians depend on water that passes through these critical water conveyance systems.”

Nielsen blamed legislative Democrats for rejecting funding to repair the state’s water infrastructure severely damaged from the failure of the Oroville Dam spillway.

“Our request would have provided for an investment in the state’s water infrastructure, which would protect lives, preserve property and save the state billions of dollars in emergency repairs,” Nielsen said.

Legislators who quashed the proposal could not be reached for comment in time for publication. But, during the legislative budget subcommittee’s meeting Thursday, the Department of Finance’s chief deputy director noted that a “compromise” was made with the request.

“We’d simply note that another part of the agenda is a compromise that’s been worked out in providing Prop. 1 funds for flood protection,” Amy Costa said, “and additionally we’d note that earlier this year the administration provided $50 million General Fund for flood prevention projects.”

Nielsen, R-Tehama, and Gallagher, R-Yuba City, led an alliance to obtain the additional money to repair critical levees in Northern California, which are used by the State Water Project to deliver water to the Central Valley and Southern California.

The $100 million funding request was also supported by state Sens. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, and Richard Pan, D-Sacramento.

Organizations that supported the allocation included the Central Valley Flood Control Association, Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, Northern California Water Association, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Western Growers, California Farm Bureau Federation and Yuba City.

Mike Inamine, executive director for the Sutter Butte Flood Control Agency, penned a letter to the state director of finance in support of the appropriation request. Inamine also specifically requested $25 million for a cost-shared repair of a critically-damaged levee in Yuba City.

“This recent series of storms was an excellent real-world test of over a billion dollars of State, local and private investment in the Sacramento River flood control system within the last decade,” Inamine wrote. “However, I am deeply concerned that a failure to respond with a significant and ongoing commitment from the General Fund today will result in loss of life and property, and potentially squander this investment.”

Inamine cited the growing backlog of deferred maintenance, the question of state liability and the unreliability of FEMA reimbursement and Army Corps of Engineers’ funding.

He also stated that the Brown Administration’s proposal to address these issues by redirecting deferred maintenance funding in the current fiscal year is “woefully inadequate.”

“In summary, appropriating General Fund dollars each and every year will prevent an order of magnitude increase in costs far into the future,” Inamine wrote. “Perhaps more significantly, strategic investment in critical levee repairs and deferred maintenance will save lives, advance wise use of floodplains, support Central Valley economies and limit State liability.”

The funding request was made in a May 1 letter to the Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Resources, Environmental Protection, Energy and Transportation.

The letter asked that the state allocate $100 million annually to the Department of Water Resources for “critical and serious infrastructure repairs and reimbursements for flood control infrastructure.”

The letter said “state funds must be made available to reimburse local agencies.”

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