California reimburses emergency levee repair costs from deadly flooding in Sacramento County
The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services shelled out more than $390,000 in reimbursement for repairs to levees in Sacramento County that were damaged over a year ago by a series of atmospheric river storms that also caused deadly flooding.
In a new release, CalOES announced the reimbursement funds were approved through the California Disaster Assistance Act to help Reclamation District 800 Cosumnes cover the costs of emergency repairs to levees.
On Dec. 31, 2022, atmospheric rivers and flash floods caused a break in levees along the Cosumnes River near Wilton.
Portions of Sacramento County flooded because of the inclement weather, including parts of southbound Highway 99, which caused three deaths.
According to a CalOES news release, the funds distributed to the district is to help cover the costs of its contract with the National Resource Conservation Service Emergency Watershed Program, contributing to two levee repairs near Fig Road and Lee School Road.
District officials confirmed with The Sacramento Bee that the levees repairs were completed last year.
“One of them was a levee breach,” said Reclamation District 800 Cosumnes engineer consultant Patrick Ervin. “(It) came over the top of the levee and that basically ripped a hole in it right at the end of Fig Road there on the west end.”
“The other one was Lee School Road,” Ervin added. “The water overtopped there and it caused some pretty severe landside erosion and some pretty severe waterside erosion.”
According to the news release, $287,769 was reimbursed towards the repair of the levee in the area of Lee School Road. Of that total, administrative costs made up $21,582.
The National Resource Conservation Service Emergency Watershed Program also approved $185,998 for repairs of the levee near Fig Road.
According to the CalOES website, funding for the repair, restoration, or replacement of public real property damaged or destroyed by a disaster is made available when the CalOES corresponds with a local emergency proclamation requesting state disaster assistance.
