February 2, 2008

A project to protect Watsonville and Pajaro is years behind schedule and could be delayed even longer for lack of funding.

City leaders delivered that message to state and federal officials Friday during an annual legislative breakfast.

Getting money for design and environmental review of the long-awaited U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Pajaro River levee project is the city's top legislative priority, the local officials said.

The estimated $200 million project aims to reduce the risk of floods from one in 10 years to one in 100. The federal government is to pay 75 percent, but hasn't allocated enough cash in recent years to keep the design phase on track.

Last year, for example, $3 million was requested, but only $500,000 appropriated. The city and Monterey and Santa Cruz counties recently ponied up $200,000 each to keep work going. But city Public Works engineer Steve Palmisano said the chronic lack of funding has pushed the start of construction back from 2006 to 2010.

"Without a supplement, construction could fall behind two or three more years," he said.

But given the politics and budget crunches in both Sacramento and Washington, D.C., siphoning additional money for the project could be tough.

"If you have 10-year flood protection, and the last flood was in '95, I took public school math so I can figure it out," said Assemblyman John Laird, after watching a short video of the devastation in Pajaro after levee breaks flooded the town in 1995.

But Laird said the $25 million the state has promised for the project can't be released until after it's won approval. And it can't win approval until the design and environmental review are complete. If any of the money is allocated early and the project doesn't pan out, the state would want a refund, Laird said.

Alec Arago, aide to Congressman Sam Farr, D-Carmel, said Farr has made protecting the promised 75-25 financing split a priority since more recently proposed projects are only in line for 50 percent funding from the federal government.

He also said funds Farr has been able to earmark for project design have been reduced as the Senate and House compromise on a final appropriations bills.

And flood protection funding has become very competitive in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Arago said. Everyone at risk of flooding is seeking money for projects.

"As the floodwater receded in New Orleans, it created a vacuum," he said.