Sacramento - AB 1200, a bill by Assemblymember John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), will require the state Department of Water Resources and the state Department of Fish and Game to evaluate the impacts of a failure of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta levee system and rate the options for addressing the risk of levee failure. The bill is sponsored by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and the Sierra Club.

“With this bill, the Legislature has taken an initial modest step towards recognizing the potential devastating impacts of a levee failure on the citizens of California,” said Governor Schwarzenegger in his signing message. “I appreciate the Legislature's willingness to enter this policy area and am signing Assembly Bill 1200.”

“Without question, a disaster for Delta levee system would be a disaster for all of California,” said Assemblymember Laird. “With AB 1200 we can take a critical step forward in preventing a catastrophe that would impact all of California.”

About the Delta

• The Delta is the major collection point for water that serves over 22 million Californians, two-thirds of the population.
  
• There are over 1,000 miles of levees in the Delta.
  
• Delta-area land is approximately 20 feet below sea level.
  
• Many of the levees are over 100 years old.
  
• More than 400,000 people live in areas protected by Delta levees.
  
• The last levee break was in 2004, when approximately 12,000 acres were flooded the Jones Tract at a cost of nearly $100 million to fix.