Emergency levee erosion repairs happening along Cosumnes River ahead of more wet weather
SACRAMENTO — Emergency repairs are happening on the levee near the Cosumnes River from damage that dates back to the 2023 winter storms.
Reclamation District 800 declared a state of emergency at the start of the week ahead of all the rain in the forecast.
"We had a couple of areas that were concerning," said Leland Schneider, a Reclamation District 800 board member. "They weren't out of control, but they had some weird flows in the area."
Schneider said that misinformation spread online over the weekend that there was a break in the levee east of Dillard Road and south of Highway 16, but that wasn't true.
"There were no levee breaks," he said. "There was some erosion that was happening that was concerning that we didn't want to get away from us."
That erosion came from the catastrophic storms of 2023 that caused multiple levee breaks along the Cosumnes River that were never fully repaired.
"It was pretty scary, but it was nice that we got a lot of water," said Alias Ortiz who lives in Sacramento and remembers the storms well.
Now, rushing waters near Sloughouse Restaurant and ponds in the parking lot are just a tease to the storm that could be hitting the area next.
I asked Schneider why they waited until now for the emergency proclamation.
"We learned a lesson in 2023 that the weather predictions can be unpredictable," he said. "It could take some property out and start getting into the wine grapes and vineyards and possibly put some water near Dillard Road."
The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors declared a state of emergency to help get state resources to the district to make those repairs.
"This is just protocol. This is a preemptive step for us," Sacramento County spokesperson Matt Robinson said. "The reclamation district came to us. We are not going to do anything unless we are approached by the reclamation district."
Schneider said that this is the second emergency proclamation the district has made since 2023. The one other time was last winter.
"We don't want to have a 2023 on our hands again where things got away," Schneider said.
Schneider wanted to make it clear that there is no immediate risk to Wilton or surrounding areas but that this declaration was a proactive step from the lessons learned from the past rainstorms.
County crews have spent the brief break in the storms to make repairs to damage that happened this week.
Robinson said the damage was minimal and the work was completed by noon on Wednesday.
"We had some calls for trees down and that was taken care of rather quickly," said Robinson. "We had streetlights that were knocked down for about an hour. We had 10 service calls for drainage flooding."
Robinson said it is not about preparation during these brief breaks in storms, but instead about making sure things damaged are taken care of. He said storm preparations start in the summer.
"We bring out the goats for example to take care of the culverts, get rid of the high grass and free up the human staff that way we can do the heavier things like remove the trees and other heavier equipment," Robinson said.
County crews are on standby for whatever the next storm will bring.
