FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT REACHES KEY STAGE
Board of Supervisors to consider final project EIR next week
SALINAS >> With the release of its final environmental review document, the long-awaited Carmel River flood control project aimed at reducing flooding risks and potential damage for homes and businesses while restoring habitat along the lower part of the river and lagoon is on the verge of a crucial milestone.
Released on Friday, the final combined environmental impact report and environmental assessment for the Carmel River FREE (floodplain restoration and environmental enhancement) project is set to be considered by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday next week.
Certification of the document and approval of the project would give the $37.5 million proposal the go-ahead after years of prep work.
Supervisor Mary Adams, whose district includes the project site, said she is looking forward to the proposal coming before the full county board next week.
“I’m really excited about getting to this point and I’m sure residents are too,” Adams said. “I think it’s a great project for the mouth of the Valley and it really has the potential to result in pretty major cost savings from flood damage.”
The 788-page document, not including appendices, was prepared for Monterey County and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services by Denise Duffy and Associates. In addition, Caltrans is serving as a cooperating agency for the project’s review. Appendix M to the document addresses public
comments received during the public review period from the document’s release on March 8 until April 22 last year.
The county and Big Sur Land Trust are co-applicants for the project.
Initiated in response to devastating floods over the years, including 1995 and 1998, the project’s main goal is to “improve the natural and historic functions” of the Carmel River and its lagoon through “hydraulic reconnection” of the river, its southern floodplain and the lagoon,” according to the document, while addressing “long-standing problems of flood management and floodplain habitat loss within the Carmel River Basin.”
The project includes two main components — a floodplain restoration and a Highway 1 causeway addition.
The floodplain restoration portion includes removing earthen levees on the south side of the river; grading to restore the project site’s ecological function as a floodplain; grading to lift about 23 acres of farmland above the 100year floodplain level to create an agricultural preserve; and implementation of a restoration management plan for the restored area.
The causeway addition includes replacing a part of the highway roadway embankment with a causeway section designed to accommodate
stormwater flows and create an enhanced fish habitat by restoring hydrologic connectivity between the floodplain restoration site and the river’s lagoon, as well as a southbound turn lane at the Palo Corona Regional Park entrance.
If approved, project construction could begin next year once full capital funding is in place and is expected to take about two years to complete.
The county is still seeking $22.9 million in FEMA funding and $2.5 million in Wildlife Conservation Board funding for the capital project cost.