Delta Flows: Flows, Flood, Conveyance, Industry, Future - Part 1

 
 
 

Delta Flows: Flows, Flood, Conveyance, Industry, Future - Part 1 

This is part one of a three part series of Delta Flows blogs. You can read the entire blog here.

by Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
 
2023 – the year that Restore the Delta has had to assertively and swiftly advocate for flood protection and flows simultaneously. Perhaps this is why we feel like we have completed an entire year’s worth of work in four months. We have not been afforded a great deal of time for reflection or for articulating where we see the realization of a healthy and restored Delta presently or in the future. Of course, the Delta Conveyance Project lingers on like the zombie that it is, poised to rise from the Delta peat soils and gobble up opportunities for future restoration of the estuary. So, let’s take a moment to catch everyone up.
 
Flood:

Localized flooding in the San Joaquin County portion of the Delta was troublesome for communities. We did have small evacuations along various points of the San Joaquin River, and our organization, consequently, took in numerous calls from community members as to what to do about basement flooding, sandbags, storm emergency services, and FEMA assistance. While we are always happy to help, like we did with mask sewing during the pandemic, the fact that we spent days assisting community with reaching services, and being the first to translate levee boil notices, evacuations, and flood warnings into Spanish, before Sacramento and San Joaquin County Emergency Services (OES) did, reveals how woefully underprepared we are as a region for future floods that will worsen with climate change.
 
Artie Valencia, who leads Restore the Delta’s flood work, did participate in a legislative hearing to discuss where OES needs improvement throughout the state and has met with the local San Joaquin County OES folks to discuss the need for quicker, culturally competent, multilingual communication notices from government agencies. We learned that OES offices do not employ translators; we also learned that local government agencies have not built out their own messaging systems and social media platforms for communicating with the public in real time. Our organization has pointed out that part of flood readiness entails educating the public about flood threat during the dry times. The South Delta urban areas are the fastest growing region in California, and new residents have to be educated on what to do when faced with localized flooding or potentially a levee break, or levee overtopping. We have suggested that community groups, like ours, should be trained to help with translation and communication by OES, and funded to do the work when emergency conditions arise, as part of an overall emergency service education network. Time and time again, we have found that we, and partner community-based organizations, have the ability to reach the community quicker than actual government entities.
 
Flood monitoring will continue for both the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River systems until the fall because cool temperatures are delaying the snow melt, yet snow fell again on May 5th further elongating this year’s flood watch. Restore the Delta checks flood levels for Delta river systems each and every morning and will continue to do so likely into the fall.
 
Beyond the need for improvements with emergency response execution, we have been busy advocating on several fronts for flood protection for the region. First, we are assessing needs presently for all areas within the Delta. For instance, in the North Delta, the new classification of levees surrounding Delta towns is creating hardship for parties wanting to replace farm homes, small business facilities, and farmworker housing because the 14 ft flood elevation requirement is making construction costs prohibitive. There has to be better policies and incentives for meeting the best construction practices without overburdening rural communities financially or rural economies will collapse. It is an equity issue when the Federal Government changes levee classification without building in protection for small communities.
 
Those of you who follow our media and online communications are probably well aware of the advocacy that we have put forward regarding floodplain restoration on the San Joaquin River side of the Delta. Whereas the North Delta is offered protection during high water periods by diverting water into the Yolo Bypass, floodplain projects that can alleviate pressure on levees in the urban Delta throughout San Joaquin County have moved at a glacier’s pace for over a dozen years due to inadequate funding and prioritization at all levels of government. Worsening the situation, San Joaquin County flood protection entities only receive $1.00 in funding for every $10.00 of flood investment in Sacramento County. Plus, earlier this year, to balance the next year’s state budget, Governor Newsom had cut $40 million in planning funds for San Joaquin River floodplain restoration projects. 
 
Our multiple coalition sign-on letters and organizing efforts supported by numerous work partners and the San Joaquin Flood Control Authority, our legislative advocacy, and our media work, contributed to Governor Newsom restoring the $40 million for floodplain restoration planning and adding $290 million to the flood control budget. As we told CalMatters, “The Governor listened to the multitude of voices…and he did the right thing for Californians.” However, much more money for flood protection work is needed, and it will take several more budget cycles to achieve equity for the San Joaquin Valley and the Delta in order to prepare for climate change. 
 
This fine work that bolstered funding in the budget was led by our Community Organizer and Government Liaison Artie Valencia(and our full team) in partnership with River Partners and was supported by local organizations including Little Manila Rising, With Our Words, Faith in the Valley, Catholic Charities of the Stockton Diocese, Public Health Advocates, Nopal, the Reinvent Stockton Foundation, Edge Collaborative, Iglesia Luterana Santa Maria Peregrina, NAACP Stockton Chapter, San Joaquin County Historical Museum, and the Conway Homes Resident Association. We also received support from Senator Susan Eggman and her staff, and Stockton Councilmember Kimberly Warmsley.
 
The work, however, on this front must continue. Federal and state requirements for 20% matching funds by communities that have suffered from decades of disinvestment by state and federal agencies, as a requirement to obtain state and federal flood management funding, is a grossly unjust policy. Disinvestment in the Delta as a region, and particularly in the South Delta, has been a political strategy to keep the Delta weak – and to keep it a water donor colony. The Delta deserves public investment like other regions in California for the benefit of environmental and economic health for all its people.
 
As data found in the recent environmental impact report for the Delta Conveyance Project reveals, the Delta is a majority disadvantaged community region with pockets of wealth. Disadvantaged communities in America never fully recover from flood events, whether they are small rural towns or large urban areas. 
 
There is no restoring the Delta without adequate flood planning that reflects our new climate reality, and that is why Restore the Delta’s young managers and advocates, who will have to live with this new climate future, are prioritizing this work.