Ahead of ‘big melt,’ lawmakers ask Newsom to pay up for flood response

Lawmakers want Gov. Gavin Newsom to devote an additional $200 million to flooding in the San Joaquin Valley as their districts recover from flood damage and face down the new threat of rapidly melting snow in the southern Sierra Nevada.

A group of 12 bipartisan members of the state assembly requested the funding for disaster relief in a letter Tuesday, citing the need for greater emergency response to flooding and more investment in protection efforts long term.

“We’re looking into the future and seeing that we have a massive amount of water coming into our communities with this snowpack. We have to be ready and time is of the essence,” said Kern County Assemblymember Vince Fong, who spearheaded the ask.

In his January budget proposal, Newsom cut $40 million for floodplain restoration projects in the San Joaquin Valley, which allow for rivers to flood in strategic places during storms or snowmelt, reducing the risks downstream and benefiting ecosystems.

After a century of attempts to tame California rivers with a complex system of concrete dams, canals and levees that transformed the Central Valley into fertile farmland, state officials have begun to appreciate the value of dedicating large swaths of land to floodplains.

Newsom’s initial budget proposed some $200 million on flood protections to reduce urban risk, strengthen levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, and reduce long-term risks in the Central Valley. But lawmakers say that doesn’t go far enough on disaster response.

The potential deluge on the horizon

Record snowfall in the Sierra Nevada this winter combined with an early season heat wave this week is raising alarm in the Yosemite Valley and Tulare Lake Basin, where a resurgence of the historic lake bed has already affected communities.

The governor visited the Tulare Lake Basin Tuesday and met with leaders of Corcoran and Allensworth where floodwaters are creeping into communities. In this week of high temperatures, snowmelt threatens to breach the levee protecting Corcoran and impact a nearby prison.

At least 60,000 acres of farmland in Kings County and Tulare County are now under roughly 3 feet of water following a series of atmospheric river storms this winter, according to the Kings County Sheriff’s Department.

“Every day you’re seeing half an inch, an inch of more water present itself here in this basin,” said Newsom in front of a flooded farm. “And as a consequence we not only need to maintain our vigilance but we can’t be impatient in terms of the impending floods and damage that will occur here in a very short order.”

Newsom, who called the visit a “surreal experience,” is expected to release his updated budget proposal May 12 as he faces an estimated $22.5 billion budget deficit. The governor’s office did not respond to request for comment before publication of this story.

In the letter, lawmakers including chairs of the emergency management committee said the governor’s recent executive order is not adequate to support response efforts and prevent future disasters. More emergency funding this summer, they said, would compensate for historic lack of infrastructure upgrades.

A blueprint finalized last year to fortify the Central Valley against flooding by the Flood Protection Board estimated a mega-flood in the region could result in $1 trillion dollars in damage and called for $3 billion over the next five years in infrastructure upgrades. A couple hundred million, advocates have long argued, is a worthwhile investment.

“We have to have floodplain restoration where there are opportunities available to take the pressure off levees,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, an environmental advocacy group. “This is not a big ask, because people’s lives are at stake.”