With the El Niño weather pattern now in effect, Santa Cruz County officials are keeping a wary eye on forecasts that could mean more pressure on the Pajaro River levee and other infrastructure that took a beating last winter. The breach that flooded Pajaro in March should be fixed soon, but other repairs won’t even start until next year.
Pajaro River levee
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas’s bill could speed Pajaro River levee repairs by skipping state environmental rules
With long-promised repairs to the Pajaro River levee in danger of being slowed by California Environmental Quality Act requirements, Speaker Robert Rivas — whose district includes the Pajaro Valley — is overhauling a bill before the State Assembly with the aim of getting the project started sooner.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
As El Niño gathers strength, lawmakers look to fortify Pajaro’s flood-ravaged levee
On Tuesday, California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) introduced legislation designed to expedite construction and upgrades along the Pajaro River levee — a 74-year-old earthen flood control berm that breached in March, inundating the mostly migrant farmworker town of Pajaro. As an El Niño weather pattern takes hold in the Pacific, residents and lawmakers worry another breach is likely if construction doesn’t start soon.
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As Pajaro River levee repairs begin, questions remain around the long-sought replacement
Crews are working to repair the levee whose failure flooded the town of Pajaro in March, but the permitting requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act are among the obstacles that might delay the start of larger, systemwide repairs into 2025.
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As threat of El Niño winter looms, Newsom signs order to hasten levee repairs
Restoring levees is crucial to public safety, but critics say Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order also comes at the expense of rules designed to protect the environment. The move comes after disastrous flooding in the Pajaro Valley and elsewhere amid last winter’s storms.
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County supervisors gear up to tackle housing plans, mental health courts, Pajaro River levee and CZU recovery
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors returns from its extended summer break next week. Lookout Politics and Policy correspondent Christopher Neely reached out to all five county supervisors to understand what they foresee as the priority projects and policy discussions coming before the board for the remainder of 2023.
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Winter’s floodwaters have receded in the Pajaro Valley, leaving behind fertile ground for lawsuits
As in the wake of flooding that hit the Pajaro Valley in 1995, an ugly and protracted litigation phase appears to be ramping up following this winter’s disaster, with residents of Watsonville among hundreds pursuing claims against a variety of local and state entities.
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Watsonville, Pajaro residents send warning shot as winter flood lawsuits against governments appear imminent
The City of Watsonville, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties and a number of local and state agencies have been named in claims made by hundreds of residents on both sides of the Pajaro River, according to the Los Angeles-based firm representing them; those claims are a precursor for a potential mass-action lawsuit.
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Months after Pajaro levee breach, hundreds of flood evacuees are still living in hotels, waiting to return home
“You go to sleep living one life, then you wake up living another,” says one Pajaro resident whose family of seven has been in limbo since the March floods. While they’ve received help from FEMA and local agencies, the high cost of living and the uneven post-flood response has them confused and worried.
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Piecemeal approach to Pajaro aid leaves farmworkers, community straining to move forward
More aid to the residents of Pajaro is being patched together, but the gaps in help and communication are complicating post-flood recovery efforts. More than 100 people remain at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds shelter as Pajaro evacuees have scattered throughout the area, seeking temporary housing. Meanwhile, many farmworkers’ jobs are in limbo as the flooded fields prevent work and have caused almost $50 million in farm loss, says Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau president Dennis Webb.