Join us for an Update on Public Access Rights

RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - One of the last wildlife sanctuaries along the Lower American River is in danger of disappearing. Over 4,000 citizens have signed a petition to stop the fill of this 20-acre floodway. We are very concerned about the Trumark Development Application of June 12, 2023, to build 220 homes in the Central Valley Flood Protection Board’s floodway adjacent to our Federally designated Wild and Scenic American River. This property is in the Parkway Corridor Combining Zone, Erosion Zone 4, and subject to erosion of 10’ in 10 years.

The directly northern and upriver Tiffany Farms HOA neighborhood is also in Erosion Zone 4. The Tiffany Farms HOA lost 10 feet riverfront bank in 2017 – in just one year.

The Trumark proposal for the Old Kassis site proposes to build a 6’ high retaining wall just 20’ from the river bluff edge, with 3 prominent gaps to remain at existing grade.

The developer states it will no longer be in a floodway after raising the land. Placing over 40,000 cubic yards import fill plus the collapse of the upper tier alluvial terrace pushing another 234,000 cubic yards of soil into this floodway and expecting a 6’ retaining wall to hold 275,000 cubic yards of fill on top of the sand and gravel base with underground water in this riparian habitat adjacent to the river is not a solid investment. In twenty years, the owners may pay the price. Before then, neighborhoods east and west of the parcel will have their health and safety threatened as the floodway will no longer serve to buffer the upcoming rise in water expected to regularly increase as happened this year.

Trumark is required to apply for a variance with the Central Valley Flood Protection Board. We have respectfully requested this variance be denied as it is contrary to the overall mission of the Board and the original purpose of the designated floodways and contrary to Title 23 California Code of Regulations (CCR) Waters, Division 1, Section 113(b), which prohibits the construction of year-round dwellings within an Adopted Plan of Flood Control absent a Major Variance and Section 107 of the Board’s Regulations which prohibits the construction of residential structures within Designated Floodways.

 

Private projects should not be allowed to set precedent to encroach into the American River designated floodway.

 

The City of Rancho Cordova’s General Plan states under XI Safety Element, Action S.2.2.4 “Discourage the use of fill to create buildable area within the 100-year floodplain, except in extreme circumstances consistent with all other applicable policies and regulations, and after review to determine potential impacts on wildlife, habitat, and flooding on other parcels.”

We live in uncertain times. Insurance companies are withdrawing from California due to increasing floods and fires. “A 1987 follow-up report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined the February 1986 flood was about a 70-year event on the American River and that Folsom Reservoir was capable of controlling a 63-year flood event in the downstream levee capacity of 115,000 cfs. According to California State Parks, Folsom Dam alone prevented an estimated $4.7 billion dollars in flood damages.” , This occurred despite forecasts “for the 1986 water year called for below-normal runoff. Instead, 30,000 acres were flooded in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.”,

The photograph included here shows how high the American River rose along the bluff of this property after just one day of the rainfall in January, 2023. If the Sacramento River hadn't experienced levee breaks and reservoirs been empty due to drought, this property would have served as overflow and thereby protect the adjacent neighborhoods as it has during floods in prior years.

We have respectfully requested that the CVFPB do the right thing by upholding the original intent of the California Code and protect the American River as an important health and safety asset to channel the increasing water flow evidenced this year and in the coming years of forecasted increases in flooding.