Our speaker for the October 18, 2017 meeting was Mr. Eric Tsai.  Eric currently serves as the Acting Chief of Flood Planning Branch, California Department of Water Resources. The subject of Eric’s presentation was the 2017 update of the Central Valley flood protection plan (CVFPP). Eric described the planning process including evaluation of flood risk and allocation of limited resources.  The CVFPP includes basin-wide feasibility studies for both Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins, with emphasis on conservation and investment strategies.

Based on the basin-wide study, improvement plans have been developed for both river basins. The improvement plans include a number of projects including Lower Elkhorn Basin Levee Setback Project, Paradise Cut Bypass expansion projects. The plan projects between $17 and $21 billion investment (capital and O&M) over next 30 years. Eric mentioned that the planning process involves numerous stakeholders, which makes it especially challenging.