The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed upgrading the Santa Maria River Levee earlier this month after five years of construction and many additional years of planning.
Local, state, and federal officials celebrated the milestone at a May 16 ceremony on the levee.
“The new standard of design and construction really adds a level of security that we didn’t have,” Water Resources Deputy Director Tom Fayram told the Sun in a May 20 interview.
The Santa Barbara County Flood Control District and the city of Santa Maria spearheaded efforts to start fixing the most critical sections of the Santa Maria levee after officials learned of the devastating levee failures in New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Crews started construction on the local levee back in 2009 using more than $40 million in Congressional appropriations and funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. According to a press release from the county, the Flood Control District shared the cost of the Bradley Canyon portion of the project with the city and the state.
In addition to improving safety, Fayram said completion of the project is also a significant financial benefit for local homeowners because they no longer need to pay for flood insurance.
Prior to making the repairs, Fayram said, the corps wouldn’t certify the levee because it wouldn’t withstand the damage from a 100-year flood.
“Now the project meets the corps standards,” he said.
This article appears in May 22-29, 2014.