Work on the long-awaited Upper Llagas Flood Control project has
begun, thanks to a cost-sharing agreement between the city of
Morgan Hill and Santa Clara Water District officials. The project,
which has been in the works for 50 years, will eventually include
enlarging Llagas Creek and its offshoot, the Little Llagas, and
constructing a diversion channel between them to provide protection
from wide-spread flooding in downtown Morgan Hill.
Work on the long-awaited Upper Llagas Flood Control project has begun, thanks to a cost-sharing agreement between the city of Morgan Hill and Santa Clara Water District officials.
The project, which has been in the works for 50 years, will eventually include enlarging Llagas Creek and its offshoot, the Little Llagas, and constructing a diversion channel between them to provide protection from wide-spread flooding in downtown Morgan Hill.
The city sits on what is known as a 100-year flood plain – meaning there’s a 1 percent chance each year a major flood could put the city under water. A 100-year flood would damage an estimated 1,600 homes and businesses to the tune of $8 million. In an average year, flooding costs about $900,000.
Although the geotechnical investigation underway is only the preliminary stage of the project it is hailed by Morgan Hill and SCVWD officials as “good news and a good start.”
The investigation and other preliminary work will cost a total of $700,000, with the city and SCVWD sharing the cost equally. The city has set aside RDA funds for the project. Both the city and SCVWD hope the geotechnical investigation will prove to the federal government the $95 million project is worth the expense.
“The project has been a very long and difficult process, but the federal government has not been willing to fund it and we need to move forward in order to keep the project moving,” Morgan Hill’s Mayor Dennis Kennedy explained reasons why the city and water district decided to shoulder the expense. “It’s critical each step of the way somehow that we keep the funds going. … In the interest of fairness and equity based on need, we’ve got to keep it going.”
Work began four weeks ago and is being undertaken by Pacific Geotechnical Engineering of Morgan Hill and URS Corporation of San Jose. Fieldwork includes drilling 140 holes to the depth of 35-45 ft. along the creek, taking soil samples, testing the soil for various engineering properties – to find out the depth of ground, to see how much it can bear in weight and settle. The tests are necessary in order to prepare and base the design for new levees and channel slopes, box culverts and flood walls, according to Dan Peluso of Pacific Geotechnical Engineering. The project and its large drilling rig will eventually pass through downtown Morgan Hill, Peluso said, in about two weeks.
With a total drainage area of 1,204 square miles, the project extends about 16.6 miles from the Pajaro River south of Bloomfield Road upstream to just beyond Wright Avenue. The project will provide a 100-year level of flood protection in the urban areas of Morgan Hill, Gilroy and about a 10-year level of flood protection in the agricultural areas. The project will also provide measures to reduce erosion, and will include replacing more than 35 bridges and culverts at road crossings.
Work on the Lower Llagas Creek portion, which extends from the Pajaro River to Buena Vista Avenue in San Martin, was finally completed in 1996 at a cost of $52.6 million. But work on the Upper Llagas Creek Flood Protection Project was stalled indefinitely because of the lack of funds.
Councilman Greg Sellers, who has been concerned about the project’s delay, said he is pleased the preliminary steps are being taken, but overall, he is disappointed in Congress’ inaction through the years and what he described as the federal government’s “misplaced priorities.”
“I’m disappointed to see it taking a lot of time,” said Sellers. “It’s a commitment they should have fulfilled a long time ago.”
When completed, this project will provide flood protection along a 12.4 miles of East Little Llagas Creek, West Little Llagas Creek and Llagas Creek, between Buena Vista Road and Wright Avenue.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the lead agency for the project, and responsible for channel planning, design and construction costs to the tune of $55 million. The SCVWD, the project’s local sponsor, is responsible for right of way acquisition, design and construction of bridges/culverts and utility relocation, estimated at $40 million.
Bal Ganjoo, senior project manager with SCVWD, said with the Corps unable to move ahead, the city of Morgan Hill and SCVWD staff proposed a cost sharing agreement for the completion of investigation studies and technical studies that need to be undertaken before design and actual work can proceed. The cost break-down includes $650,000 for the geotechnical investigation, $30,000 for a tree survey and $20,000 for hazardous materials investigation. Morgan Hill’s share of all the preliminary work is estimated at $350,000. Since this portion of the work is really the financial responsibility of the Corps, Ganjoo said both parties hope to be reimbursed by the federal government when the economy brightens.
“The federal government needs to fulfill its commitment to our community to get it done,” said Kennedy.
In the meantime, local officials plan to move on.
Ganjoo said for its part, the SCVWD has made some headway in some right of way acquisitions but is going to have a difficult time meeting its $40 million share of the project.
“Forty million is a big challenge. We have only $12 to $13 million for the project now,” Ganjoo said.
He said fieldwork is scheduled to be completed by Nov. 15, soils are to be analyzed by December and a final report should be completed by spring.
Ganjoo is encouraged.
“Drilling started two and a half weeks ago and they have made good progress. Fifty of 140 holes have been drilled,” Ganjoo reported Friday. “It’s a huge enterprise, one of the biggest geotechnical contracts in the area.”
Improvements will result in wider creek channels, built-up levees and box culverts that will alleviate flooding primarily in the downtown area.
“Every year Morgan Hill has experienced some amount of flooding, particularly in pockets of Monterey Road,” Peluso said. “The storm drainage system gets overwhelmed. A series of box culverts along Hale Avenue would greatly minimize the flood hazard.”
