California Flood News (And Why We Care)

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Gary A. Patton
Executive Director
Planning and Conservation League

What a difference a week makes!

Last week: no budget, and little progress on flood legislation
This week: a budget (hurrah!), and a flurry of activity on flood legislation

Is that light I see at the end of the tunnel?

The various pieces of flood legislation still alive in the state legislature are, at long last, MOVING! Flood bill authors and staff are working together on crafting a comprehensive flood management solution for California. PCL and other environmental groups spent all of Wednesday in meetings with some of the legislative staff working the flood bills, as well as with the Department of Water Resources and the staff in the office of the Speaker of the Assembly, Fabian Núñez.

We are hopeful that a strong package will be presented to the Legislature soon, a package that keeps the best of AB 5, AB 70, AB 156, AB 162, AB 1452, SB 5, and SB 17.

And now, we travel inside the mind of a typical reader to answer your subconscious questions and concerns.

[cue fog machine, haunting music...]

Reader: I get it that flood safety is important. But why is the Planning & Conservation League, an environmental group, so involved? Why six articles in a row about flood legislation? And how am I supposed to keep track of all those bill numbers?

PCL: Dear Reader, you raise several excellent questions.

First, let's talk about why PCL is so involved in flood legislation. Dear Mother Nature handles flood by sending the floodwater into natural floodplains. California, traditionally, has handled flood by sending the floodwater through unnaturally high and narrow river channels. These two approaches are inherently in conflict, and both sides lose. Nature loses because channelized rivers reduce riparian and floodplain habitat important for wildlife. California loses because the current levee-based system (besides being extremely expensive to maintain) cannot adequately protect existing properties, infrastructure, and, most importantly, people.