Natural Resources Committee approves flood protection bill

Wolk legislation requires 200-year flood protection for new housing in floodplains

SACRAMENTO–Legislation by Assemblywoman Lois Wolk (D-Davis) to require 200-year flood protection for new housing subdivisions in the Central Valley passed late yesterday out of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee on a 7-3 vote.

Assembly Bill 1899 requires cities and counties to assess their level of flood protection before building, and verify that any area proposed for new housing subdivisions either has or will have at least 200-year protection from flooding. Currently, the state or local flood agencies make most flood management decisions, while cities and counties make floodplain land-use decisions. This disconnect has resulted in dramatic growth in the Central Valley over the last decade and placed countless homes at risk of flooding and human lives in harm's way.

“If the state is going to be held responsible for local land-use decisions, then we need to know that those decisions are informed and that flood protection is in place before people's lives and property are put at risk,” said Wolk. “Bad planning costs taxpayers money. Projections of the state’s liability in the event of a major flood disaster are in the tens of billions. As taxpayers are asked to invest to protect homes and communities that were built in flood zones, they want to be assured that we won’t keep putting people in harm’s way, further exposing state and local budgets to the costs associated with these decisions.

“As homes are built in new areas of the floodplain, state and local governments need to ensure that Californians buying those houses will enjoy sufficient flood protection – beyond the minimum 100-year protection. We can't afford to allow floodplain developments to expand without some assurance that we can protect our citizens from floods.”

Wolk closed with a response to criticisms that the bill will slow construction of affordable housing, saying, “Housing under 10 feet of water isn’t affordable."

AB 1899, which will next be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, is supported by the Santa Clara Valley Water District, East Bay Municipal Utility District, The Planning and Conservation League, Sierra Club, and Grey Panthers.