Re: Retain FY 2022-2023 Funding for San Joaquin River Floodplain Restoration
March 29, 2023
The Honorable Gavin Newsom
Governor, State of California
1021 O Street, Suite 9000
Sacramento, CA 95814
Re: Retain FY 2022-2023 Funding for San Joaquin River Floodplain Restoration
Dear Governor Newsom:
We are writing to urge you to retain $40 million in FY 2022-2023 funding for San Joaquin River floodplain restoration. Your draft FY 2023-2024 budget proposes to eliminate these funds. We also urge you and the legislature to increase flood funding to achieve the level of state funding recommended in the new Central Valley Flood Protection Plan, which was adopted last December.
This $40 million for San Joaquin River floodplain restoration was appropriated in the FY 22-23 budget in recognition of the high risk of catastrophic flooding faced by communities along the San Joaquin River, as well as the broad benefits of and support for floodplain restoration as part of an effective strategy to reduce flood risk. These funds are the single largest source of state or federal funding for floodplain restoration in the Central Valley. If these funds were eliminated, it would set back essential flood projects by several years – as it would eliminate dedicated floodplain funding in both the
FY 22-23 and the FY 23-24 budgets. As explained below, California is in a race against time to prevent disastrous flood damage in the Central Valley. The need for these funds has only become clearer since the FY 22-23 budget was passed by the legislature.
Over the past year, the work of UCLA professor Daniel Swain and other climate researchers has shown that climate change will result in a dramatic increase in flood risk in California, with the San Joaquin River suffering the largest increase in risk. This increase means that future flood flows could be up to five times greater than previously assumed.
In December, the Central Valley Flood Protection Board adopted a Central Valley Flood Protection Plan update that recognizes this growing risk. In fact, the Flood Plan states that the worst-case Central Valley flood could threaten hundreds of thousands of Californians and cause $1 trillion dollars in economic damage – which could place it among the costliest natural disasters in global history. Preventing such disastrous floods will require a significant investment. The Plan calls for extensive floodplain restoration and recommends an annual state funding target for Central Valley flood investments of $360-$560 million per year over the coming five years. In addition to stripping $40 million for floodplain restoration from the FY 22-23 budget, the draft budget would provide only approximately $135 million in flood funding in the coming fiscal year – dramatically short of the target recommended by the state’s own Flood Plan.
Finally, the atmospheric river flood events seen in December and January highlight the risk anticipated by the Flood Plan and the scientific community. Those floods caused significant damage and loss of life. The worst-case Central Valley flood, however, would be dramatically larger. More frequent and damaging climate-driven floods are coming – and disadvantaged communities face the greatest risk. We must invest now to ensure that needed flood projects are in place before these larger floods arrive. The proposal to eliminate floodplain restoration funds is disappointing for several
additional reasons. Floodplain restoration does more than decrease flood risk. These investments help recharge groundwater aquifers by allowing flood flows to spread out and sink in. They also sequester carbon, restore fish and wildlife habitat, and create jobs and recreational opportunities for underserved Central Valley communities. These broad benefits explain why the Flood Plan and floodplain restoration are so broadly supported. These investments are also called for by your Water Resilience Portfolio (Action 25.4).
Our concern regarding the proposed elimination of $40 million for floodplain restoration is heightened by the fact that an additional $60 million for San Joaquin Valley floodplain restoration projects with groundwater recharge benefits, included by the legislature in the FY 21-22 budget, was diverted away from floodplain investments by state agencies. Given the tremendous risk faced by San Joaquin Valley communities, it is troubling that, over the past two years, $100 million has been directed away from multi-benefit San Joaquin River flood management solutions.
We urge you to retain the $40 million in funding for San Joaquin River floodplain restoration and to move the state toward the flood funding targets included in the new Flood Plan.
For more information, please contact April Manatt, Executive Director, California Problem Solvers Foundation at april@caproblemsolversfoundation.com or (916) 730-5394.
Thank you for considering our request.
Sincerely,
The California Problem Solvers Caucus
___________________________
Assemblymember Heath Flora (Co-Chair)
Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua (Co-
Chair)
Senator Josh Newman (Co-Chair)
Senator Scott Wilk (Co-Chair)
Assemblymember Tom Lackey
Assemblymember Tim Grayson
Assemblymember Marie Waldron
Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva
Assemblymember Juan Alanis
Assemblymember Greg Wallis
Assemblymember Diane Dixon
Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil
Assemblymember Josh Hoover
Senator Melissa Hurtado