The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released a new $800 million dollar plan for flood protection in Stockton. Capital Public Radio's Rich Ibarra has the story.
The City of Stockton is surrounded by the Delta, so flooding is always a concern.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' plan includes installing cutoff walls, building new levees to the 200 year flood level, and adding closure gates to reduce tidal flows when water levels are high.
San Joaquin Area Flood Control Agency Director James Giottonini says flood protection will be more important in the future.
"The climate is beginning to be more and more severe so you've got climate change, you got projected sea level rise, if any of the water, if any of the western levees were to break, it would flood all the way to Pershing," Giottonini says.
That would effectively cover half of Stockton.
Giottonini says the federal government would pay for 65 percent of the project, the rest of the cost would be covered by the state and local property assessments.
He says the work could begin as early as 2020 and construction could take five to 10 years to complete.
A public forum on the plan will be held April 8 in Stockton.
The plan requires congressional approval.
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