Feds reduce flood risk

After years of planning and construction, the Olivehurst Detention Basin is complete and will benefit homeowners with increased flood protection as well as lower insurance premiums.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency notified Yuba County officials that Olivehurst is no longer in a floodplain. The new maps are effective immediately.

“Rates are based on the flood zones,” said Public Works Director Mike Lee. “This directly affects people’s pocket books.”

The new maps rezoning Olivehurst cover from Second Avenue south to George Drive between the Union Pacific Railroad to the west and Highway 70 to the east.

The basin, which cost about $7 million, is an internal draining area that holds water if rivers levels get too high.

The southern Olivehurst detention pond, roughly 900 feet north of the Bear River, was the largest project resulting in moving the community out of a floodplain. Three smaller ponds were created off McGowan Parkway, near what is known as the Clark Slough, to help move the water out of the area. Before the basin existed, rivers would get backed up and flow downstream, and the Bear would also back up, clogging creeks and sloughs, said Supervisor Mary Jane Griego.

“That backup floods the neighborhoods and streets where people live,” Griego said. “I have (constituents) paying up to $1,500 for flood insurance. This could bring them down to about $300.”

For longtime Olivehurst residents, the new mapping could potentially save at least $1,000, Griego said.

“It’s great,” Delsie Griffin, 57, of Ardmore Avenue, said. “We had to find ways to come up with the money for this year’s premium; they want it up front. I could have used it on so many other projects.”

But in order to get the lower premiums, Griego said it is up to homeowners to notify insurance and mortgage companies. A task, Griffin and her husband, Paul, said is not as easy as it sounds.

“No one knows what’s going on,” she said. “I’m anxious to see the new premiums in June. But no one seems to be able to help me.”

The Griffins said their flood insurance cost them $1,700, which is up from $700 two years ago. With a limited income, Delsie Griffin said, it was hard for them to come up with the money.

“We’ve got it bad,” Paul Griffin, 71, said. “But I can’t imagine what they are paying in Plumas Lake. With that cost, I can understand why people are losing their homes.”

Although being out of the floodplain map no longer requires homeowners to have flood insurance, Griego and Lee strongly encourage it.

“Just because it’s designated on paper doesn’t mean it can’t flood,” Lee said.

The Griffins said they hadn’t thought that far in advance because they have yet to receive a discount. But holding on to flood insurance is something they would consider even though they’ve never been flooded.

“It doesn’t hurt to be protected, especially if it’s that cheap,” Paul Griffin said.

Appeal-Democrat reporter Andrea Koskey can be reached at 749-4709 or at akoskey@appealdemocrat.com