Plumas Lake Key Issues: Levees

Editor's Note: This is the first in a three-part series that will look at those key issues of interest to the residents and homeowners of Plumas Lake. We will also be highlighting public safety programs and information as well as local government actions in the coming weeks.

The levees continue to be a key focal point for the residents of Plumas Lake as they are critical to the protection of the homes and families in the area. Whether you have lived in the community for more than five years or are new within the year, it is inevitable that levee talk has entered the conversation more than once.

Builders sold their homes with the guarantee that the levees would be up to code and safe, and while it seems that throughout the past five years this guarantee was up in the air, the light at the end of the tunnel has appeared and continues to get larger.

“It is my one mission in life to complete these levees and then I can retire,” said Paul Brunner, executive director, Three Rivers Levee Improvement Authority (TRLIA). “The dedication and focus by many different interested segments has pushed the projects through and kept the planned levee improvements moving.”

The levee improvements began in 2004 and TRLIA was formed to finance and construct levee improvements surrounding the south Yuba County area. Four work phases were identified to improve 29 miles of levees along the Yuba River, Feather River, Bear River and Western Pacific Interceptor Canal with the goal of achieving 200-year flood protection for south Yuba County by the end of calendar year 2008.

The levee improvements were broken up into four phases, with phase four being the largest and requiring an entire new setback levee be constructed along the Feather River. Phases 1, 2, 3 and a portion of Phase 4 have been completed and over 11 miles have been certified to meet the requirements by the Army Corp of Engineers. An additional 13 miles are still pending certification along the Feather River. The cost to complete the four phases is estimated to be $360 million. 

“While the 2008 deadline has come and gone, the county has worked diligently to continue moving – only stopping work when weather wouldn’t allow it,” said Brunner. “We are getting really darn close.”

Many concerns have arisen due to the state’s down economy. A large portion of the funding for these levee improvements comes from the state through Proposition 13 and 1E funding. While many funds are being held by the state, Yuba County has been fortunate and the state is still sending funds to complete the levee construction.

Just within the past two weeks, the governor issued an order to expedite funding to help complete the levee projects for the area, which includes a new portion of the levee system that wasn’t part of the original upgrades.

“This funding will get Californians to work immediately to provide critical flood protection in historically vulnerable areas of Northern California,” said Gov. Schwarzenegger. “It is important that we take swift action to get projects like these moving, both to protect California citizens and to reinvigorate the economy.”

All this money and expeditious work has culminated around the need for the levees to be complete in order to be certified by the Army Corp – before the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) remaps the region into a high-risk flood zone. FEMA, the agency in charge of ensuring public safety throughout the country, is in the process of evaluating the safety of the levees that protect the homes and residents of Plumas Lake.

If FEMA remaps the area before the levees certification is complete, it could mean that residents will be paying much higher rates for, now required, flood insurance. TRLIA has been working very closely with FEMA, the county and the state to work as partners to hold off the remapping while the very last portion of the levee improvements are complete and certified.

At the end of October, a ceremonial ribbon cutting took place on the Feather River’s new setback levee, which is all but complete. All the levees, including a new portion running along the Yuba River, are on schedule to be completed in June 2011 at a 200-year flood protection.

What does this mean to residents?

It means, as Brunner noted during a recent town hall forum in Plumas Lake, that once complete, south Yuba County will have the best flood protection in the state.

Additionally, coupled with the passage of a levee maintenance assessment by local voters earlier this year, TRLIA is hopeful that the remapping will be held off in order for the levee improvements to be complete. This would save residents nearly $1,000 in annual flood insurance premium rate hikes.

“The reason to get these levees done is to ensure residents have the lowest possible cost when it comes to their flood insurance,” said Kim Floyd, public relations manager for TRLIA.

Floyd went on to note that while this is a very complex issue, the long and the short of it is that residents need to make sure they have insurance and not let it lapse to ensure they maintain the low rate.

Some confusion has arisen however, on who is responsible for making the premiums.

Residents have noted that when originally purchasing in Plumas Lake, the builder was covering many of the insurance policies on these homes. Most builders in Plumas Lake were covering the policies through 2008 and then signed on to cover them through 2010 once it was realized that the levees would not be completed on the original timeline.

While the same builders argue the symbolic ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the actual completion of the improvements, the total improvements are not complete. Therefore, TRLIA is countering that most resident policies (there are a few exceptions) should still be covered by the builders.

At the recent town hall forum, Brunner urged residents to contact him at 749-7841 if they  had questions regarding payment of their flood insurance policies by the builder or any other comments or questions about the levee improvements.

“The more information that is out there for resident, the more informed they are about the process and what it means to them and their homes,” said Brunner. 

Plumas Lake Life correspondent Michele Perrault can be reached at 763-3380 or e-mail her at mperrault@plumaslakelife.com