Crews worked round the clock to fill what had grown to a 400-foot-wide gap in the levee. Lew Bauman is with the Monterey County Water Resources Agency. He said on Tuesday evening, crews closed the gap and are working on reinforcing the levee.
"They're making tremendous progress," said Bauman. "They were able to add several additional feet of material since earlier in the day, and they will continue that work 24-7."
Bauman says the levee is already back to the strength it was before the storm. But there's now a growing consensus - that's not good enough.
Badly needed upgrades to the levee have languished for decades under federal formulas that gave priority to high-income areas.
At a hearing in Washington D.C., California U.S. Senator Alex Padilla called on White House budget director Shalanda Young to change that once and for all.
NEW: @SenAlexPadilla says "the Pajaro River project was long overlooked because it would protect a low-income community with low property values," as he questions OMB Director @ShalandaYoung46 on how we can shift the federal gov's approach to prevent future tragedies. pic.twitter.com/PSTakxWV29
— Edgar D. Rodríguez (@Dupenoine) March 15, 2023
"Many of the residents (are) now out of work long term," said Padilla. "Because nearby fields remain underwater... these families won't be able to return to their homes probably for months."
The levee is finally in the line for a 10-year, $400 million upgrade that was supposed to start in two years. Now talks are underway to move up that project, starting work now instead of patching the levee again.
