Levee repair to contain Tulare Lake cannot wait. A city of 22,000 is threatened | Opinion
Only one thing stands between the city of Corcoran and disastrous flooding: a 14-mile-long wall of dirt.
That earthen levee protects the city of 22,500 on its west, south and east sides from the growing Tulare Lake. That is the body of water that periodically reappears whenever huge rain and snow seasons occur, like this year. Fed by the Kings, Kaweah, Tule and Kern rivers, Tulare Lake develops in the flat land in Kings and Tulare counties between Corcoran on the east, Alpaugh and Allensworth to the south and Stratford on the west.
Televised images of flooded homes demonstrated the dire need for levee reinforcement earlier this year when Merced County’s Planada and Monterey County’s Pajaro were overrun. Could Corcoran be next?
The city manager, Greg Gatzka, has been trying to coordinate efforts to get the levee raised and strengthened so it can withstand the growing Tulare Lake. So much water from melting snow in the high Sierra is expected to flow downstream that experts believe it could take two years before the lake retreats. Orchards and fields are already well underwater. Losses to agricultural operations are being estimated in the billions of dollars.
Gatzka said it will take about $17 million to shore up the levee so it can hold back the lake. Corcoran has a reserve of $5 million, but Gatzka needs to hold onto that in case of other emergencies, like a city well that suddenly stops working.
That the levee needs to be reinforced against the forming lake is clear. That a small town like Corcoran cannot pay for that work itself is also obvious.
Hopefully, this all becomes evident to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is to see the lake for himself Tuesday afternoon.
Levee raising request
Other state officials are already in the Tulare Lake basin. Brian Ferguson, public affairs director for the state Office of Emergency Services, told reporters Monday that agency officials are working with counterparts in Kings and Tulare counties to identify flooding hazards and find ways to minimize them.
State analysts are also doing extensive modeling of how fast the giant snowpack in the southern Sierra — estimated this year to be 300% of normal — will melt and what the resulting river flows will be.
The state Department of Water Resources has even created a Tulare Lake atlas — a map of how deep the lake is at different spots, in one-foot increments.
“While we have amazing technology, there are many factors we don’t know yet,” Ferguson said, like where ground squirrels may have burrowed into the levee and weakened it.
Said Ferguson in the press briefing: “No one on this call can say definitely, ‘Yes, Corcoran will flood’ or ‘No, Corcoran won’t flood.’”
One thing that has not been estimated: what would happen to Corcoran in the event of levee failure. That’s because Kings County officials have not requested the state to do that particular modeling.
But county officials have asked the state to raise the levee and provide additional protection for Stratford, a town of 1,100 on Highway 41 between Lemoore and Kettleman City.
“All requests for state assistance for flood defensive measures, such as levee raises, need to demonstrate that such measures do not increase the flooding risk to other communities and critical infrastructure in the region,” said Bryan Byrd of state Water Resources. “DWR is assisting with that analysis, which is led by the county.”
Snow melting
Adding to the state’s focus on Tulare Lake is the big prison complex at the southern end of Corcoran. Between the main prison and a substance abuse facility adjoining it, there are 8,000 inmates. A state prison spokeswoman said there is no flooding threat yet, and that no incarcerated men have been relocated. However, no one is being transferred to either facility for now.
San Joaquin Valley temperatures are forecast to rise into the 90s this week for the first time this year. Runoff from the melting snow is expected to last into summer. Tulare Lake is going to be a reality for some time.
So state and federal leaders — Republican congressman David Valadao represents Corcoran — should come up with the funding for levee work, and head off disaster. Normal bureaucratic processes of responding after a natural event won’t work; speedy action is a must to get the levee work going.
State officials already reviewed some eroded sites in the levee and made immediate repairs. That’s good. But it will take more time to strengthen the entire berm.
What cannot be missed is this fact: The lake is not waiting for anybody.
