FLOOD ZONE?: The boundaries of Reclamation District 17, shown above, reflect the area that is protected by levees along the San Joaquin River. If the levees are decertified, most residents living within this area will be forced to buy annual flood insurance for an estimated $1,200 to $2,000. 

With levees that protect much of the south county facing possible decertification, several local governments have agreed to loan money to a maintenance district that is working to upgrade the levees immediately.

Reclamation District 17, which oversees levees along the San Joaquin River from Stockton to southern Manteca, asked this week for $600,000 in short-term loans to continue planning for an expensive levee-improvement project that will hopefully keep the region from being designated a high-risk flood area.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency threatened to map much of Lathrop and part of Manteca into the flood plain after the district failed to prove that its levees met federal standards last year. Decertification of the levees would essentially halt all development in the area and force most homeowners to buy flood insurance.

After much protest, FEMA agreed in November to offer temporary approval of the levees if the district agreed to make improvements in the next two years.

Since then, the reclamation district has been putting together plans for a $100 million levee improvement project, exhausting most of its minor operating budget of about $200,000.

Dante Nomellini, Sr., the reclamation district’s attorney, said the loans will be enough to keep the district moving on plans and permits for the project until the time when district landowners decide on a proposed $30 million ballot measure to pay for the project’s construction.

The other $70 million the district hopes to get in matching grants from the state, Nomellini said.

Manteca city councilmen voted unanimously on Monday, June 2 to loan $100,000 to the district so that it could continue its planning work. The following day, the Lathrop City Council gave its unanimous support to a $200,000 loan for the district.

The district asked for more money from Lathrop because a larger part of the city is protected by the disputed levees. Requests have also gone out to San Joaquin County for a $200,000 loan and to the City of Stockton for $100,000.

The district has agreed to repay the loans within two years if the ballot measure passes, but has not specified how quickly it could repay the loans if the measure fails.

The results of the ballot measure, which is decided by mail-in vote, will be read on July 23.

The district is asking landowners within its boundaries to agree to a 10-fold increase in annual property assessments to pay for the levee work.     For the average homeowner this would mean paying about $95 a year.

Votes will be weighted by the amount that each landowner would pay under the new assessment, so most commercial and industrial landowners — which face annual charges of around $400 an acre — would hold more sway than the average resident.

Lathrop Mayor Kristy Sayles said the city would face disastrous consequences if the measure failed.

“If it doesn’t pass, the least of our worries is going to be $200,000,” Sayles said at the council’s June 3 meeting. “We’re going to be in real trouble.”
 

Manteca Mayor Willie Weatherford predicted that voters would not agree to a tax increase until the levees were actually decertified.