W. Sac is offered more time on levees

The federal government has offered to give fast-growing West Sacramento two years to show its levees are adequate.

If the city can't do so, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will designate the city a hazardous floodplain.

City officials said they're not sure they'll accept the offer, which was made in a June 25 letter. They're still reading the fine print to see what restrictions and responsibilities would be imposed on the city, and whether it can possibly meet the two-year deadline.

Bill Panos, the city's capital facilities manager, said the two-year reprieve looks like a good deal for West Sacramento, but "we're going to be very careful about this."

West Sacramento is ringed by 21.5 miles of levees. Earlier this month, the City Council approved developments that would put about 5,800 additional houses behind these earth walls. Construction of these houses would be effectively halted if West Sacramento were placed in a flood hazard zone.

The city is depending on developer fees from the new construction to help fund an estimated $400 million in levee improvements. Like their counterparts in Sacramento, West Sacramento residents also have approved a property assessment to help fund the levee repairs.

"This is our No. 1 community priority," Panos said. "This public safety improvement project is the most important thing going on in the city of West Sacramento."

If West Sacramento rejects the two-year reprieve, it will likely wind up in the same situation as North and South Natomas, on the other side of the Sacramento River. In December, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is expected to place North and South Natomas in a flood hazard zone, which will halt construction and force residents to buy flood insurance.

In the case of Natomas, FEMA did not offer the city additional time to show its levees provided enough protection.

So why does West Sacramento qualify for a two-year grace period?

Federal officials say it's because they really don't know if the levees ringing West Sacramento are strong enough to meet the minimum federal standard, which requires that levees protect against a 100-year storm, or one that has a 1 percent chance of happening in any given year.

"We haven't done a detailed assessment on them," said Kevin Knuuti, chief of engineering in the Sacramento office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which advises FEMA on the condition of levees.

In the case of Natomas, the corps had studied the levees enough to say it could no longer vouch for their adequacy.

"The data FEMA had clearly showed Natomas does not provide (enough) protection," said Eric Simmons, a senior engineer in FEMA's Oakland office.

Still, the June 25 letter from FEMA to West Sacramento cites recent studies that found problems with underseepage of water through the levees protecting West Sacramento. Seepage has been a major issue in Natomas and other parts of the local levee system as well.

FEMA began taking a new look at levees across the country in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans in 2005.

The agency also offered earlier this month to give Yolo County two years to address issues with some of its levees. But other portions, including those along Cache Creek north of Woodland, would not be included in the deal. Those are designated as inadequate in a FEMA map sent to the county and West Sacramento.

Yolo Supervisor Matt Rexroad, who represents Woodland, said much of the city is already designated as a floodplain, and many residents are required to buy flood insurance. City residents have rejected various ways to remedy the situation, including a proposed flood wall.

"It's all Cache Creek for us," Rexroad said. "The water all flows into Woodland. Woodland's No. 1 policy issue for the last 10 years has been the threat of flooding."

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