Cal. Levees At Risk, Unfunded

Levees abound in California, from the hundreds of miles of them that control water in the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta to the urban levees that protect cities like Huntington Beach, where a levee failure would turn Surf City into Swamp City.

And, there's a 2-in-3 chance that a major earthquake or storm would cause widespread levee failures in the next 50 years. Such a breach would put hundreds of thousands of people at risk and destroy crops in one of the nation's most productive agricultural regions.

Last year the feds authorized $90 million for delta levee repairs, but the funds have not yet been appropriated.

In Orange County where I live, it appears that the County has been using flood control funds to pay off bankruptcy debt, so old earthen levees that do not meet FEMA standards snake through densely crowded neighborhoods, next to elementary schools -- and there's no money to rebuild them.

I have a client who has offered to rebuild a stretch of one deteriorating levee in return for approval of 171 new homes, but a handful of rabid enviros have held up the project for five years.

Katrina called. Is anyone listening?