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Flutterby
RO# 14378
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 Posted - May 03 2012 : 11:31:27
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"Restore the Delta:
Levees are a Better Investment than a Peripheral Canal
$1 to $2 Billion needed to protect Delta
Sacramento, CA - Restore the Delta today proposed in conjunction with the Delta Levees Standards Conference that Delta levees be upgraded as part of any Bay-Delta water solution. Levee upgrades are an essential flood protection for all the assets in the Delta - with or without a canal. "We should spend the $1 to $2 billion to bring levees up to a robust standard to protect the $20 billion in Delta infrastructure and to secure the water export supply," said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta. "We are in a good position to deal with sea level rise, and cement canals in the southern part of the state are actually more vulnerable to earthquakes than Delta levees."
Barrigan-Parrilla released the following statement in conjunction with the conference:
"Fat, robust levees protect the Delta. An emergency preparedness plan against the greatest threat - flood - is also needed. But floods can be managed.
"We are well-positioned to deal with sea level rise - we can raise levees one to two inches per year.
"The $1-2 billion investment is necessary to protect $20 billion in infrastructure in the Delta and 4 million urban residents. Fattening the levees would still have to be completed, even if a canal were built. A canal won't protect state highways, natural gas pipelines, PG&E transmission lines, railroads, East Bay MUD pipes and other key infrastructure threatened by a flood.
"Earthquake threat to the Delta - with the Hayward Fault 45 miles away - is minimal, according to levee expert Dr. Bob Pyke, but the State Water Project and Central Valley Project cross right over some of the most dangerous faults in California from Coalinga south to LA. Large engineered projects are more vulnerable to earthquake then Delta levees.
"Funding exists for levee improvements in Prop 1E, and needs to be spent accordingly.
"DWR is proposing a lesser standard for levee protection than the higher safety standard developed by the Army Corps of Engineers (PL 84-99). The Army Corps of Engineers' levee standard is the same higher standard found in the Economic Sustainability Plan authored by the Delta Protection Commission earlier this year.
"It is problematic that the Department of Water Resources is actually proposing a weaker standard for Delta protection while promoting new conveyance.
"Today's conference is an opportunity to highlight the differences between the two standards and to discuss the role that levees play in water exports, habitat for the ecosystem, and public safety for the people in the Delta and the urban periphery of the Delta," said Barrigan-Parrilla."
www.restorethedelta.org
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=xp76ilcab&v=001JbA8pPO1z-M7-bkyCTfJzRXsPyMD8gdq_zsrlAOAn-eLed_kjBvoKBHbuoHQpmwiHDRDbtGVnG7y9zHwi47BX9G8ABHkUs3Tg8ZREm4dVdpu_KS3Dwy09A%3D%3D
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Homeport: California Sierras/Gold Country
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Levees are a Better Investment
