The State Senate unanimously approved AB 74, the Middle Creek and Hamilton City Flood Damage Restoration and Ecosystem Act, a bill by Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro (D-Arcata).
The legislation will restore Clear Lake habitat that includes open water, seasonal wetlands, in-stream aquatic habitat, shaded aquatic habitat and perennial wetlands.
“The Middle Creek Project will eliminate flood risk to 18 homes and approximately 1,600 acres of agricultural land,” Chesbro said. “It will also restore damaged habitat and the water quality of Clear Lake."
The project is located at the north end of Clear Lake in the area bounded by State Highway 20 and Rodman Slough.
That area was “reclaimed” between 1900 and 1940 by constructing levees, creating a slough and “reclaiming” approximately 1,200 acres of lake bottom and shoreline wetlands for agricultural purposes.
In 1958, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers added to the levee system, “reclaiming” an additional 200 acres of shoreline wetlands. These projects resulted in the physical isolation of more than 1,600 acres of wetland and floodplain from the largest tributaries of Clear Lake.
The levees constructed by the Corps are owned and maintained by the State of California.
The levees in the Project area are up to three feet below design grade, are prone to slope failure, and have inadequate cross-section.
The levees were never constructed to proper standards and are the most prone to failure during a major flood event, according to Chesbro's office.
The Corps has determined that the levees provide only a four-year level of protection (the levees were designed to provide a 50-year level of protection) and will overtop during a 35-year flood event, unless emergency flood measures are implemented. The area was evacuated in 1983, 1986 and 1998. Evacuation was imminent in 1995.
Analysis of the project has estimated the amount of phosphorus entering Clear Lake from Middle and Scotts creeks would be reduced by 40 percent. Reduced phosphorus concentrations in Clear Lake would potentially reduce the chlorophyll concentrations by 33 percent, significantly improving water quality.
The project will also restore up to 1,400 acres of the 7,520 acres of historic wetlands in the Clear Lake Basin that have either been lost or severely impacted. Restored habitat includes open water, seasonal wetlands, in-stream aquatic habitat, shaded aquatic habitat, and perennial wetlands. Additional upland habitat will be protected adjacent to the wetland and stream areas.
The Lake County Board of Supervisors sponsored the bill.
AB 74 is supported by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; Lake County Land Trust; Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake Tribe; Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce; Sierra Club Lake Group; West Lake Resource Conservation District; and The Nature Conservancy.
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