Senator Jim Nielsen (R-Tehama) and Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-Yuba) today asked Governor Brown once again to directly intervene to fund urgent levee repair needs. Below is an excerpt from the letter to Governor Brown:

 “In the aftermath of the recent spring storms, levees throughout the region saw significant damage. Having toured the Feather River and personally witnessed the long stretches of crumbled river banks and levees as a result of the drastically fluctuating water releases from the Oroville Dam, we can attest to the critical need for $100 million in additional funding for serious infrastructure repairs for flood control. 

“A break in any of these critical repair sites along the levee system have the potential to devastate the region and require hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of emergency repairs. In addition, the state bears liability for avoidable catastrophic damage as a result of levee repairs (see Paterno v. State of California).

“The current funding, touted by your staff, is woefully inadequate. Moreover, the $50 million re-purposed from last year has largely already been accounted for.

“California’s levees protect millions of lives, farmland and wildlife habitat. With the fall rainy reason only a few months away, Northern California desperately needs an additional $100 million in funding to avert further damage to the state’s levees.

“We respectfully ask you to directly intervene and fund the bi-partisan request of $100 million in this year’s budget to shore up our levees.”

Click here to read the letter in its entirety.