SACRAMENTO – A bill by Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro (D-First District) to restore up to 1,400 acres of wetlands in the Clear Lake Basin has won unanimous bipartisan support from the Assembly’s Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.

AB 74, the Middle Creek and Hamilton City Flood Damage Restoration and Ecosystem Act, seeks to restore Clear Lake habitat that includes open water, seasonal wetlands, in-stream aquatic habitat, shaded aquatic habitat and perennial wetlands.

The bill, coauthored by Assemblyman Jim Nielsen (R-Second District), also includes a subvention project for a levee in Hamilton City, Glenn County. AB 74 would authorize the state to provide subvention funds for both projects.

The Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee approved AB 74 with a 13-0 vote on Tuesday. The bill next goes to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

“The Middle Creek Project would eliminate flood risk to 18 homes and approximately 1,600 acres of agricultural land,” Chesbro said. “And it would restore damaged habitat and the water quality of Clear Lake."

Congressman Mike Thompson is also seeking $1.2 million for Middle Creek in the 2010 federal budget, as Lake County News has reported.

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 Corps levees constructed are owned and maintained by the State of California.

The levees in the project area are up to 3 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.

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 fight measures are implemented. The area was evacuated in 1983, 1986 and 1998, with evacuation 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 would 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.

AB 74 is supported by the Lake County Board of Supervisors, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Lake County Land Trust, Habematolel of Upper Lake Tribe, Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce, Sierra Club Lake Group, West Lake Resource Conservation District, The Nature Conservancy, Glenn County Board of Supervisors, Reclamation District 2140 in Glenn County, Hamilton City Community Services District, Hamilton City Citizens In Action and the Hamilton City Fire Protection District.