YWA considering inundation map grant

The Yuba Water Agency is considering a request for a $65,000 grant to help Yuba County procure a flood and levee breach inundation map – products that would assist in future emergency response efforts.

The agency’s board will decide on whether or not to award the grant at today’s meeting.

“The inundation map products will inform efficient and safe implementation of evacuation routes and procedures,” said Yuba County’s Deputy Director of Emergency Services Scott Bryan in a funding request sent to the agency. “It will also help prioritize specific areas of impact depending on the type of flood event. These products will undoubtedly improve coordination and effectiveness of our emergency response efforts during a flood event.”

The county has expressed interest in developing a real-time mapping tool that uses hydraulic models to simulate water levels in the Yuba and Feather river basins and to assess the impacts of levee failures in real time, particularly before, during and after large storm events when significant releases from the New Bullards Bar Reservoir might be necessary, according to the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International.

If the agency were to approve the grant, the county would use $25,000 to obtain an updated hardcopy set of potential levee breach locations in the Yuba County region. The remaining $40,000 would be allocated to studying the feasibility of a real-time inundation mapping tool that could be used to simulate inundation mapping of complex levee failure modes for training purposes and for managing actual flood events.

The Yuba Water Agency Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. at the Yuba County Government Center – 915 Eighth St., Marysville.