California Assembly Fails to Pass Flood Bill

A package of flood bills contained in California Assembly Bill 1665 failed to pass in the last hours of the Legislature’s session. The bill was seen as an effort to protect the flood-prone Delta and Central Valley communities and would have required cities and counties to share flood liability with the state when they approved new development behind state-owned levees.

The bill also would have required cities and counties to consider flood risk when creating their general plans, as well as would have required local agencies to determine whether improved flood-protection facilities designed to benefit new construction would worsen flood risks elsewhere. Local agencies would have had to adopt evacuation and response procedures to receive state funds for levees.

Although AB 1665 failed, another bill, AB 798 was remains alive and would extend an existing funding formula for Delta levee projects.