Tiffany Revelle–Record-Bee staff
UPPER LAKE — The fate of Middle Creek Reclamation District residents hinges on legislation under discussion, both at the state level and at the national level.
Bounded by Highway 20 and Rodman Slough, the project area holds off Clear Lake”s rising lake level during flood season with approximately 86-year-old levees.
The county is purchasing the homes of people living in the Middle Creek Reclamation Area, who may be in immediate physical danger in the event that those levees fail when the lake level rises this rainy season.
There are 18 homes in the project area, along with approximately 1,280 acres of agricultural land. County Public Works Director Bob Lossius said the county”s first priority is to relocate homeowners in the area to avoid any danger of severe flooding to the residences.
Two such homes just closed escrow in September, making a total of six that have been purchased to date.
The county orchestrated a relocation for each of these homeowners, which includes finding a comparable home and property, shifting the current property tax rate to the new home, and compensation for moving costs.
The Statewide Flood Protection Corridor Program provided $5 million in funding for the project last August. Lossius said he expects the money to enable the relocation of one or possibly two more residents in the reclamation area.
The Water Resources Development Act, usually passed every other year, provides for approval of all public works projects for the US Army Corps of Engineers. It has not been passed in five years due to controversy over what should continue to be the responsibility of the Corps, and includes the Middle Creek Flood Damage Reduction and Ecosystem Restoration Project for Lake County.
Congressman Mike Thompson included the project in the House version of the water bill, which passed last September. Sen. Barbara Boxer championed the Middle Creek project in the Senate, which passed its version of the bill in July.
The Army Corps of Engineers ? which wasn”t originally involved in the project area”s levee construction around 1920 ? built setback levees for reinforcement in 1958.
After a Corps feasibility study determined that the current levees would overtop during a 35-year flood event rather than providing the 100-year flood protection that they were designed to provide, and after finding that it would cost over $6 million to repair the levees, the decision was made to propose the current four-phase project rather than attempt repairs.
According to the House”s version of the Water Resources Development Act that contains this and other projects nationwide, the total cost of the project will be $43.6 million, with $28.5 of that being federal cost and $15.2 million in nonfederal cost. Lossius noted that the county is seeking financial assistance from several environmentally-minded organizations to help pick up the nonfederal funding.
Proposition 1E, in this November”s bond package, would provide an additional $160 million for the state”s Flood Protection Corridor Program. Lossius said if the bond measure is approved, Lake County will then compete with other counties for a large chunk of the allocation.
The project”s full scope is far-reaching, including not only the relocation of residents whose homes are at risk of flooding, but also raising the Nice-Lucerne cutoff bridge to a higher level to avoid flooding, reinforcing power line structures in the reclamation area, relocating and preserving land used for agricultural purposes in the area, then punching holes in the existing levees in order to reclaim wetlands and wildlife habitat.
Lossius” memos to the Board of Supervisors over the past several years have outlined the benefits to the environment, including an expected dramatic improvement to Clear Lake”s water quality.
Scotts Creek and Middle Creek watersheds account for approximately 50 percent of Clear Lake”s watershed, contributing an estimated 71 percent of the total sediment and phosphorus going into Clear Lake.
Lossius” March project overview stated that the Middle Creek Flood Damage Reduction and Ecosystem Restoration Project could reduce the total phosphorous content by up to 40 percent, which would in turn reduce the chlorophyll concentrations by up to 33 percent.
Legislative Director Jonathan Birdsong of US Congressman Mike Thompson”s office said Tuesday that negotiations between House and Senate failed to reconcile differences between the two versions of the Water Resources Development Act before Congress adjourned in September for elections.
Congress will reconvene Nov. 13, Birdsong said, at which point a compromise will be sought.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
