Key committee passes first bill of Assembly flood package

Wolk legislation to fund local levee maintenance passes with unanimous, bipartisan vote

“My legislation ensures that local levee agencies can continue to afford to satisfy the urgent needs for Delta levee maintenance, while the State prepares to set new and clear priorities for how State money for local Delta levee maintenance is spent," said Wolk. "The Delta plays a critical role for California, in so many ways. It conveys water to Southern California and the Bay Area – through channels created by Delta levees. It's a place for farming and beauty. Perhaps most importantly, the Delta is the richest estuary ecosystem on the west coast of North or South America. Too much depends on the ability of Delta levees to maintain freshwater channels and push back salt water from San Francisco Bay.”

AB 798 would extend the sunset on the current State cost-sharing formula for levee maintenance or improvement projects in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to 2008. This bill is just one piece of the Assembly's developing flood protection package. Other bills will likely address land-use, flood management assessment and planning, and flood insurance. The Assembly is also discussing flood protection financing, for the Delta and beyond, through their own proposals in addition to evaluating the Governor’s Strategic Growth Plan.

“Post Katrina, there is a universal understanding that California needs to better address flood prevention, both fiscally and in terms of coordination of State and local efforts,” said Wolk. “We need to set priorities on how the State will spend its annual budget as well as the Governor’s proposed bond issue, or any future bonds, to keep Californians out of harms way, and not wait until the next flood hits.”