LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County's Department of Water Resources director told the Board of Supervisors during a Tuesday update that the county had come perilously close to completely losing a levee that began leaking large amounts of water on Monday.
In an extra item the board voted to add to its Tuesday afternoon agenda, Water Resources Director Scott De Leon gave the supervisors a report on the Middle Creek levee, located off of Reclamation Road between Nice and Upper Lake.
The damaged levee, located at the south end of the Middle Creek reclamation area, sparked a response on Monday by numerous local and state agencies, which wrapped up the levee stabilization on Tuesday.
The National Weather Service had issued a flash flood warning for the area that expired Tuesday morning, and the Office of Emergency Services proposed voluntary evacuations for eight residences, as Lake County News has reported.
De Leon said his department received a phone call at about 9:30 a.m. Monday that the levee was leaking. He told Lake County News on Monday that his staff arrived on scene about a half hour after the call.
“We were probably within 30 minutes of losing that levee,” De Leon told the board during the Tuesday update. “It was pretty close.”
A leak had developed between two large pipes extending through the levee from a nearby pump station which De Leon said is owned and operated by the reclamation district.
The amount of water coming out of the levee “was fairly substantial,” De Leon said, estimating it was going into the surrounding fields at a rate of about 100 gallons per minute.
He and his department initiated repairs and worked with the Lake County Office of Emergency Services to mobilize a response, which included numerous agencies, among them three Cal Fire hand crews.
De Leon also recognized numerous volunteers and adjacent property owners, including Philip Rooney and his son, Matthew, Philip Rooney's wife Marcia, their friend Mike Riley and Christy Mateer.
Philip and Matthew Rooney and Mike Riley stood up to their waists in cold water for an estimated two hours on Monday as they assisted with using sandbags to build a small ring levee around the end of the leaking pipe, De Leon said.
While the sandbagging efforts helped slow the flow of the leaking water, De Leon said it was still flowing at an “unacceptable” rate.
After a fair amount of discussion with the state Department of Water Resources – which maintains the levee and arrived on scene Monday afternoon to manage the incident – De Leon said the state agreed to begin pumping concrete grout into the hole to stop the water.
He said Medeiros Concrete Pumping of Santa Rosa came out to do the work because late Monday local contractors indicated they couldn't respond. Point Lakeview Rock and Ready Mix supplied the grout.
After pumping three yards of concrete the water stopped coming, said De Leon.
“Right now what the situation is, the leak around the pipe has been stopped,” he said.
While there was still some water coming up out of the road that runs along the levee, De Leon said, “It's a pretty small amount of water.”
The source of that leak, which he estimated isn't even running at a gallon a minute, is believed to be a leaking pipe joint.
Sandbags were placed around that secondary leak, De Leon said. “They've been monitoring it all day and it doesn't seem to be changing.”
The levee is within the 1,400-acre Middle Creek Restoration Area, which is slated to be returned to wetland to improve the lake health and alleviate concerns about the area's aging levees. Over the last several years the county has been buying out property owners in the area.
Supervisor Denise Rushing said before the property purchases about 25 homes would have been impacted, but now it was more in the range of six to eight.
De Leon said if the levee had been fully breached, water would have extended all the way to Bloody Island, which maps indicate is about a mile away.
Lucerne resident Carol Bettencourt, a Red Cross volunteer, said she was contacted and told to be ready in case evacuations became necessary.
Rushing said the coordination and communication in response to the incident were excellent.
De Leon said that, had his department not responded, the levee would have been breached.
Supervisor Anthony Farrington asked De Leon if he was seeking reimbursement from the state. He also referred to a concern voiced by Sheriff Frank Rivero at the scene Monday about the county having to pay for some of the associated costs.
De Leon said he is seeking reimbursement, and that a state Department of Water Resources official had stated he had $40,000 to spend on the levee, with any amount over that likely to be charged to the county.
However, De Leon said the costs incurred so far were well below that level. He said they had paid $2,800 for sand, $1,300 for grout and $500 for a pump. They also had used 3,000 sandbags from their stores, which were being replaced by the state.
“Dollar wise, we're really not too far into it,” De Leon said, adding he was preparing a bill for the state that also would include his staff's time.
“I made it very clear that as the local representative I would assist them in obtaining materials and services,” said De Leon, explaining he carried out tasks like ordering concrete and sandbagging the area at the state's direction, and that he also was clear that the county wasn't going to pay for it.
“I'm certain that things will be fine,” and that the county won't be asked to foot the bill, said De Leon.
“Had you waited for every authorization in the world it would have been too late,” said Board Chair Jim Comstock, who thanked De Leon for his quick response.
De Leon said when he and his staff arrived at the scene, “It looked bad,” and they could see how quickly the levee was eroding.
Ruth Valenzuela, a field representative for Assemblyman Wes Chesbro, was present for the discussion, and told the board that Chesbro's staff believes there is money accessible to continue working on the Middle Creek Restoration Project. Chesbro had previously gotten approval for funding for the project through AB 74.
“We have people researching it right now,” said Valenzuela.
De Leon gave special recognition to county Water Resources staffers Chris White and Tom Smythe for their work at the scene.
Monday had been Smythe's day off, but he showed up and worked throughout the day, much of it while soaking wet, said De Leon.
“He just goes above and beyond the call of duty every time,” De Leon said of Smythe, adding Smythe moved a lot more sandbags than he did “and I'm dying today.”
By late afternoon Tuesday the scene of the levee remained sandbagged but state and local officials had concluded work, with personnel and equipment having left the area.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
