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.
South County
Posted inLatest News
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.
Posted inK-12 Education
PVUSD fall school enrollment over projections as pandemic ebbs: ‘We can hug each other’
Santa Cruz County’s largest school district is off to a “smooth start,” says interim superintendent Murry Schekman. Enrollment is up, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District teaching corps is almost fully staffed — but chronic absenteeism poses challenges.
Posted inLatest News
8 months after storms, California disaster relief slowly flows to undocumented workers who lost homes, income
Gov. Gavin Newsom promised $95 million would help undocumented workers rebuild after winter storms and floods. Months later, $18 million is being doled out and there are translation issues with the state’s website.
Posted inLatest News
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.
Posted inFood & Drink
From Soquel to Pajaro, fundraisers put the focus on farms, farmworkers
Community Bridges’ Farm to Fork Gala happens July 30 in Pajaro, followed by an August event featuring activist Dolores Huerta to raise money for the Center for Farmworker Families and Esperanza Community Farms. September brings benefit dinners featuring local chefs to Watsonville and Soquel.
Posted inLatest News
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.
Posted inLatest News
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.
Posted inLatest News
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.
Posted inLatest News
California to send $95 million to undocumented flooding victims months after promising ‘rapid response’
Gov. Gavin Newsom in March said state relief would soon help flood victims who don’t qualify for federal emergency relief, including those affected by disastrous flooding in Pajaro. The state has yet to name nonprofits that will dole out the aid.
