30-05-2025
Levee upgrades begin final phase in Sutter County
( — The Sutter Butte Flood Control Agency broke ground on a vital flood mitigation project on Wednesday, just south of Yuba City. The improvements aim to protect both residents and local agricultural land.
The Tudor Flood Risk Reduction Project is the final one-point-six-mile stretch of the 44-mile Feather River West Levee Project, which provides 100-year flood protection for nearby rural areas and 200-year protection for urban areas.
'The impetus to get this… levee improvement project going was not only public safety, but the protection of important assets,' said Marc Boomgaarden, SBFCA Board Chair and Vice-Mayor of Yuba City.
The $18 million project finalizes levee improvements that began back in 2013. Michael Bessette, Executive Director of the Sutter Butte Flood Control Agency, said, 'It really completes what we told the public we were going to do. We were going to finish up this job along the Feather River West Levee.'
In 2007, Senate Bill Five was passed, requiring flood protection measures to be in place by 2025 to continue issuing building permits. However, the Feather River West Levee is currently experiencing through and under seepage. The SBFCA is now working to correct those issues.
'We're rectifying those deficiencies by primarily constructing a cutoff wall,' said Bessette. 'Then we'll build the levee back up to the existing height, as it was before we started.'
This improvement phase is entirely locally funded, avoiding federal funding cuts that are currently affecting the connecting Sutter Bypass East Levee Project.
'The voters agreed to tax themselves to fund the improvements,' said Boomgaarden.
These repairs will protect not only thousands of residents from floods but also protect valuable agricultural land that this region relies on.
'This is one of the best ag growing areas in the world,' Boomgaarden explained. 'There's a lot of people who have a stake in this.'
The Tudor Flood Risk Reduction Project is expected to be completed by next fall. After that, work will move to a 17-mile stretch along the Sutter Bypass to bring 100-year flood protection to the basin.
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