Monitoring the Levees of the Sacramento Valley Basin

Sacramento River Basin City of Sacramento

San Francisco

San Joaquin Basin

Los Angeles

City of Sacramento

Historical Timeline
1848: Gold rush, Sacramento established

1850: First major flood hits Sacramento

1861: Largest flood in California history

1860s: Failed Swampland Districts experiment and massive hydraulic mining

Historical Timeline
1870s: Levee building begins 1890s: Federal involvement 1940s: 90% of current system complete

Yuba City - 1955

1986 Flooding
My question and I ask this without ever having seen Pacific Storm Bob or whatever it s called [is] why do we have three days of front page stories and TV news stories about a rainstorm? Is it because Californians are sissies? - San Francisco columnist

1986 Flooding
In response, after the storm: Nature in California is a smiling killer that can turn on you at any time. - Carl Nolte (SF colleague)

1986 Flooding

Tyler Island

1986 Flooding

1986 Flooding

Afterwards, if one were to take statistical probability as a guide, there was every reason to believe we would not see another flood of that magnitude for many years
- David Kennedy, former Director of CA DWR (quoted from his forward to Battling the Inland Sea)

1997 Flooding

Arboga

1997 Flooding

Arboga

1997 Flooding

Olivehurst

And yet, only eleven years later, the January 1997 flood produced flows on several major streams , such as the Feather and Yuba rivers, some 20 percent greater than 1986.
- David Kennedy, former Director of CA DWR (quoted from his forward to Battling the Inland Sea)

Impact of 1997 Flooding

1. 2. 3. 4.

Annual erosion inventory (USACE Sac District) Hydrographic Survey of System & Hydraulic Modeling Emergency fixes and maintenance efforts Repair work (limited to only 5 sites!)

June 3, 2004

Jones Tract (Delta)

August 29, 2005

August 29, 2005

January, 2006

LEVEES FINAL GRADE: D

January, 2006

February, 2006

A State of Emergency is declared for the Central Valley levees and emergency repairs proceed.

2009 Tasks for USACE

Annual Erosion Inventory Paper to digital (Trimble GeoXT/XH) Erosion Sites File Geodatabase (GDB) SDSFIE Conversion Terrasync or ArcPad? Update Atlas and Site Rankings

ArcPad or Terrasync?
USACE heavily leaned towards Terrasync Why? ArcPad 6-7 weaknesses
Buggy Small viewing window cluttered by toolbars Form builder difficult to use Not as intuitive as Terrasync Known issue with Terrasync: How would it work with a GDB? What about ArcPad 8?

Terrasync Form Development

ArcPad 6/7 to ArcPad 8

ArcPad Form Development

The Winner: ArcPad 8

Observed Attributes

Erosion Location Bank Slope/Berm Width

Upper Bank Middle Bank Lower Bank Toe Underwater

Example: Soils

Example: Tree Hazard

Example: Vegetation

Current Status?
The system is still heavily vulnerable! Over 70 sites repaired since 2006! Multiple agencies working together! 10,000 linear feet (at least) of levee being repaired every year.

Anthony Alvarado (alvaradoa@ayresassociates.com)