Perspective from both `Yes' and `No' Part 1 Measure M Guide

Measure “M,” which will appear on the March 5 primary election ballot, has proponents and opponents, several of which requested that the League of Women Voters of Woodland host a forum on the measure.

The League and the Daily Democrat, in their commitment to educating voters on candidate races and measures and propositions affecting our community, have worked together to provide the following general information about the Measure and an opportunity for readers to compare responses by proponents and opponents to questions developed by League members.

Below is part 1 of the twopart series. Part two will be published in the Wednesday edition of the Daily Democrat on the Opinion page and will be available online as well at dailydemocrat.com

Cache Creek levees and the Yolo Bypass pose significant flood risks for Woodland, higher than any urban area in the Central Valley. As a result, Woodland officials are partnering with the US Army Corps of Engineers, the California Department of Water Resources and the Central Valley Flood Protection Board to meet standards for flood protection and to remove properties from the FEMA Special Hazard Area.

If approved by a majority of Woodland voters, Measure M would authorize the city of Woodland to accept and use at least $300,000,000 in federal and state contributions or up to 99% of the construction and associated costs of the Lower Cache Creek Flood Risk Management Project. It would also authorize the city to construct a setback levee conveyance channel to prevent flood waters from flowing south into Woodland's city-limit areas and convey that water into the Cache Creek Settling Basis, and to use city funds for the remainder of the project costs exclusive of federal and state funding.

The project's goals are to meet state and federal standards for flood protection and remove hundreds of homes, approximately 250 industrial and commercial businesses, Interstate 5, and the city's drinking and wastewater facilities from the Federal Emergency Management Agency Special Flood Hazard Area.

The project includes a new levee along County Road 98 west of town and along Churchill Downs north of town that would connect to the Cache Creek Settling Basin. A drainage canal would be built to route flood waters into the Settling Basin and into Yolo Bypass.

Raising or moving Cache Creek levees will not be funded by state and federal agencies. The project does not improve the Yolo Bypass levee, leaving agricultural lands east of the city limits in the Special Flood Hazard Area. Therefore, this agricultural land cannot be developed.

North of the new levee and outside the city, the US Army Corps of Engineers has concluded that the project will not increase flood risk for rural properties. However, flood depths will increase for those closest to the levee. The city of Woodland proposes to spend $25 million to assist this area with actions to reduce the damage caused by flooding.