Levee left unrepaired on Sacramento County land worries farmer
SLOUGHHOUSE - One Sloughhouse farmer wants to know why a levee on county land is in a state of disrepair. He's especially concerned because the location and potential for flooding again could impact access and safety.
Farmer Dave Utterback has been raising concerns about an eight-foot levee that has been left in a state of disrepair next to his property, which is owned by Sacramento County. The location and potential for flooding could impact access and safety, and Utterback is questioning why nothing has been done to fix it since it blew out in January.
"It blew out in January there...at that point, they had CCC crews come out and put sandbags, but nothing has been done since," Utterback said.
During the first storm of the year, water pushed over Jackson Highway and Dillard Road, cutting off evacuation routes.
"Once Dillard is flooded out and 16 is flooded out, there is no other way out except to go through Ione," Utterback said.
He is worried that temporary repairs and tarps won't hold during another atmospheric river, which has been rolling across the region, spilling creeks onto roads and closing them.
"It comes off those new subdivisions and comes this way, so we're dealing with a lot more water than what used to be 20-30 years ago," he said.
When CBS13's Rachel Wulff asked the county about the issue, a spokeswoman responded that the earthen agricultural berm is not an engineered publicly maintained flood control levee but that it would be responding to the damage. Authorities are coming up with a plan for a more durable repair and when construction can happen.
"We've been asking the county to get something done and we aren't getting any help. Anything to get things plugged up and get the hole back up to where it should be," Utterback said.
Reclamation District 800 has spent $6 million this year on emergency temporary repairs to breached or broken levees.
"We had sloughing here on the waterside you can see where the bank used to be further out by 10-15 feet. So we armored it with rip rap," said Reclamation District 800 board member Leland Schneider.
The Cosumnes River levels fell short of what was expected, which is a blessing in a rainy year that has given levee districts a run for their money.
All heavy equipment is idle now, but crews will put it back into use over the weekend as they get ready for another round of wet weather and a projected crest of the Cosumnes River at 14 feet on Tuesday.
