Griego hosts flood talk
Flood protection, levee repairs and flood mapping by the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be the center of discussion for a community meeting in Plumas Lake tonight.
Yuba County Supervisor Mary Jane Griego will host the meeting at 6 p.m. in the Rio Del Oro School multipurpose room, 1220 Zanes Dr.
“This is following through with our commitment to keep people informed,” Griego said. “This will bring them up to date on the FEMA remapping and other things.”
Other topics of discussion in the meeting will be levee certification, the levee assessment survey sent to residents of Reclamation District 784 from the Three Rivers Levee Improvement Authority and timetables for accomplishing the different tasks.
Later, the discussion can delve into economics, transportation and law enforcement, if people have questions on those topics, Griego said.
County officials will be available to answer questions.
The county is working on the last phase of levee repairs along the Feather River, which will cost an estimated $200 million. The work includes a new six-mile setback levee between Starr and Shanghai bends, as well as repairs to six miles of the remaining levee.
Developers are largely financing repairs to allow development to continue in the Plumas Lake area. But county officials hope to obtain state money from Propositions 1E and 84 to help pay for the repairs.
County officials want the fixes completed before November 2008 and before FEMA issues final flood maps for the south county area some time in the future. Once completed, the levees will have 200-year flood protection coverage.
The county began its levee repair efforts after state officials informed county leaders in March 2003 that its levees were not certified. Since then, the county has completed more than $130 million in repairs to county levees.
Tonight's meeting is one in a series of meetings to discuss levee issues. Griego will host another town hall meeting in April for Olivehurst residents to talk about levees, flood issues, the Olivehurst detention basin and other topics.
Appeal-Democrat reporter Daniel Witter can be reached at 749-4712. You may e-mail him at dwitter@appeal-democrat.com.
