Flood agency urges new fee

A plan to double the city's flood protection could add $5,000 to the price of an average new home in Sacramento.

The Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency proposes a development fee to pay for a host of projects to achieve greater flood protection throughout the city.

The fee was first discussed last year as a companion to a property tax increase adopted by voters for flood control projects. Details were unveiled at a meeting of the SAFCA board last week.

A fee on new development is seen as a way to ensure urban growth does not increase the area's flood risk. It would amount to about $2 per square foot for one-story, single-family homes, which in Sacramento average about 2,500 square feet.

Industrial projects would pay about the same rate, two-story multifamily housing would pay $1.20 per square foot, and commercial development would pay about $3.

New construction and remodeling that increases an existing building's footprint would be subject to the fees.

"We'd like to shape this to encourage redevelopment and compact growth," said Stein Buer, SAFCA executive director. "Where we are redeveloping existing square footage, you are not really creating additional square footage at risk."

After New Orleans, Sacramento has the worst flood risk of any major American city. The development fee would generate $148 million to minimize that risk with projects that would put Sacramento at the forefront of urban flood control.

Among them is a plan to armor American River levees so they will survive overtopping during a 200-year storm, which has a one-half of 1 percent chance of striking in any year.

Armoring may be needed because Folsom Dam's flood control abilities will be "maxed out" after a new spillway and other improvements are built in 2015, said SAFCA attorney Tim Washburn. A greater than 200-year flow out of the dam over a 48-hour period could overtop American River levees, he said, which probably can't be raised because of encroaching development.

An overtopped levee still means flooding, but at much lower depths.

"If the levees don't fail, you greatly limit the amount of water that flows into the floodplain and the amount of damage that results," said Washburn.

Another solution is "forecast-based operations" at Folsom Dam, in which water releases are triggered by weather predictions to create more flood storage. The fees could pay for water supplies inadvertently lost in the process.

Other projects include buying development rights on rural land around Sacramento, to prevent urbanization that may worsen the city's flood risk.

Developer fees may also expand capacity in the Yolo Bypass and weirs that divert water into it when the Sacramento River floods.

SAFCA also would use the fee to reimburse its property tax revenue. Those funds are being spent now for ongoing flood safety projects, especially to restore 100-year flood protection in the Natomas basin.

The proposed fee would be imposed in Sacramento's 200-year floodplain. It covers most of the city except pockets in Land Park and Tahoe Park.

Developers, so far, don't oppose the fee, but they want more time to study it.

"We understand the need for it. We embrace that," said Joshua Wood, government affairs coordinator at the Sacramento Builders Exchange. However, he said, "This is a significant fee that will affect our membership and the ability to pencil out projects."

The board plans a preliminary vote on the fee in April. It would then require approval by the city and county of Sacramento and Sutter County, which will collect the fee on SAFCA's behalf. A final vote is planned in April or May. Collection of the fee would start 60 days later.

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