It is the never ending project. It’s what happens when
bureaucracies meet funding roadblocks that lead to the proverbial
political football being tossed about until half a century passes
and the project remains incomplete. It is the Llagas Creek Flood
Protection Project, first conceived in the 1950s.
More than a dozen major floods over the years could have been prevented
It is the never ending project. It’s what happens when bureaucracies meet funding roadblocks that lead to the proverbial political football being tossed about until half a century passes and the project remains incomplete. It is the Llagas Creek Flood Protection Project, first conceived in the 1950s.
Today, it remains half finished, causing routine flooding in Morgan Hill. Major floods occurred in 1937, 1955, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1969, 1982, 1986, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008. And, last October nearly seven inches of rain fell in 24 hours, damaging existing homes and businesses and causing $140,000 in public property damage. Public works director Jim Ashcraft has said that construction of the channel would prevent most of the downtown flooding.
Behind-the-scenes work getting done, but no shovels in the ground
The political football was first in the hands of the Army Corps of Engineers before they tossed it to the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Santa Clara Valley Water District, who eventually gave it back to the Corps. In 1993, the city of Morgan Hill and the water district undertook an effort to preserve the natural creek extending through downtown Morgan Hill. In 2004, the city and the district entered into a cost-sharing agreement to fund essential investigations to keep the project on schedule. The agreement funded a geotechnical investigation, hazardous materials investigation and a tree and riparian corridor assessment.
In 2009, the city and the water district entered into another cost-sharing agreement to fund and prepare project designs, Environmental Impact Reports and the U.S. Army Corps’ design documentation report.
Sense of urgency needs to return to complete flood control project
Despite all the behind-the-scenes work, no dirt has been moved. The $130-million project – when complete – will extend approximately 12.5 miles from Buena Vista Avenue upstream to just beyond Wright Avenue, and provide 100-year level of flood protection in the urban areas of Morgan Hill. But the problem is legislators often look at it as two projects – one finished in Gilroy where significant flooding is rare, the other in Morgan Hill that still remains in the planning stages – and that has lessened the sense of urgency to complete the project.
So where does that leave us? Certainly no closer to the goal line than we’ve been in decades. Legislators, district officials and the Corps, need to remember that the Llagas Creek Flood Protection Project is half finished. It’s not two projects with one finished and one in the design stage. Perhaps Jerry McNerney, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer can blow up the logjams and get the project funded to completion. It will be an excellent use for TARP funds, it will provide jobs, and most importantly, it will solve the flooding problem which our representatives in Washington have been turning a blind eye to.
