The Monterey County Board of Supervisors wrote a letter this week that expressed concern over the slow progress on the Pajaro River levee repairs ahead of winter.
The letter, addressed to both of California’s U.S. senators and Reps. Jimmy Panetta and Zoe Lofgren, decried the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to push back the deadline for some of the repairs until after the rainy season. The deadline was originally the end of this year, and is now July 1, 2024.
The primary breach that flooded the Pajaro community last March has been repaired, but two other sites have not.
Representative Panetta, whose district includes the part of the levee in disrepair, said work at the site ran into unforeseen obstacles and other delays.
“Unbeknownst to anybody, to be frank, they discovered a sewer line that was on the Monterey County side,” Panetta said. “They then had to relocate that sewer line, and that took about a month.”
There have also been issues with property owners allowing access to their land. In addition, there is water in the area that needs to be removed before the levee can be repaired. Panatta says those issues are now close to being resolved.
The two sites still in need of repair are downstream of the community of Pajaro. One site is under Highway 1 near Watsonville, where the breach in the levee could cause the roadway to flood if there is enough rain. The next site is at the mouth of the river, where it empties into the ocean. The resort community of Pajaro Dunes is a short distance away and could be flooded if there is a breach in the levee at that site.
Panetta agreed with the Monterey County supervisors, who said in their letter that hiring a second contractor might help speed up repair progress. There is presently only one contractor working on the two remaining projects.
“If it takes a second crew coming in, then that's an important thing,” Panetta said. “I think we've already started to have those conversations to ensure that basically it gets completed.”
Panetta says he understands why the Board of Supervisors is concerned.
“It's constant pressure that needs to be applied to the bureaucracy in order to get this done,” he said. “That’s what we have been doing, and that is what we will continue to do.”
