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Flood Plain Management
For the past decade, CURE has questioned the
Army Corps of Engineers'
inadequate design of flood infrastructure along the alluvial
fan in
Southern California. CURE efforts have gained renewed national
interest in
light of the extensive damages caused by Hurricane Katrina
and the inadequacy of
Army Corps infrastructure there.
In Southern California, the Army Corp of Engineers
has constructed
numerous debris dams and channels to take rock and flood waters
from the
steep San Gabriel mountains. When these dams were designed,
the Corp did
not envision houses being constructed directly beneath their
infrastructure which is now rapidly occurring. Moreover, the
criteria used by the
Corps to determine the level of safety offered by these dams
are
outdated and subjective. Historically, local Congressmen demanded
that the
Corps build flood projects to advance the goals of wealthy
developers and
the Corps - based on political pressure - did so despite concerns
that
these projects were insufficient to handle the type of major
flooding
that occurs in Southern California.
CURE has funded several related efforts to highlight
and prevent
dangerous developments under Corps Projects. Since 1997, it
has opposed the
destruction of the Deer Creek Spreading Grounds, an area of
prime
habitat and groundwater recharge, that also serves as flood
protection for
the growing cities of Rancho Cucamonga and Ontario. CURE also
challenged
the California Office of Emergency Services for its failure
to develop
a viable flood plain management plan, demanding that it takes
into
account the increased urban development below the dams.
Other legal and political efforts are
on going to force the Army Corps
to publicly acknowledge the shortcomings of their dams. Such
admissions, in turn, would force local governments to plan
more carefully,
develop emergency response plans, and otherwise ensure that
its citizens were
safe. Because this project impacts billions of dollars of
development
in California's fast growing cities, it has been fought by
a wide range
of wealthy interests. Nevertheless, CURE has documented long-standing
resistance on the part of all government agencies to face
the realities
of flooding and, at a minimum, this documentation will lead
to
significant liability on the part of those government officials
if flooding
does occur.
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