Wednesday, May 17, 2006

In defiance of basic common sense, cities and counties in the Central Valley continue to approve development in flood-prone areas – places where the levees are designed to protect farmland, not subdivisions.

It’s happening in Lathrop, Stockton and Yuba County. It’s even happening in Sacramento, where doubts have resurfaced about the levees that surround fast-growing Natomas.

This continuing push into dangerous flood plains is worrisome enough given the lives at risk. From a fiduciary standpoint, it is even more disturbing. Three years ago, an appeals court found that California was solely liable for a state-owned levee that broke and inundated part of Yuba County in 1986. Because of that ruling – known as the Paterno decision – state taxpayers are paying nearly $500 million to flood victims and face billions of dollars in future liabilities.

This situation is crying out for change. In response, Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, has introduced a bill that would require local planning agencies to share the liability when they approve new development in flood-prone areas. Specifically, these planning agencies would be jointly liable to the extent their decisions add to potential flood damages and the state’s overall exposure.

Assembly Bill 3050 would not absolve the state of liability. But it would prompt local agencies to think twice before approving homes next to suspect levees. That’s too much for the League of Cities, the Building Industry Association and other groups. They want to kill Jones’ bill, which faces a hearing today in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Fargo and other detractors say it is unfair for local governments to share liability when they have no control over levees. Their response to Paterno is simply to seek more state subsidies for flood control.

State leaders are doing just that. Lawmakers have approved a $4 billion flood control bond that will be on the November ballot, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has included another $500 million in his budget. Lawmakers are fooling themselves, however, if they think this investment will provide 100 percent insurance against a flood. Taxpayers will be on the hook for billions of dollars in damages far into the future.

Sadly, Schwarzenegger has been AWOL on AB 3050, even though he and his aides once sounded an alarm about Paterno. When it comes to standing up to developers, this governor is looking like Benedict Arnold. Perhaps the Appropriations Committee can be more courageous.