Flood Control Agency Formed in California Counties

A new flood control agency for California’s Butte and Sutter counties will start considering levee rebuilding and repairs that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Sutter-Butte Flood Control Agency will compete for state grants to improve levees to boost protection to 100-year levels.

Much of Sutter County remains part of a special federal flood hazard insurance zone, despite $55 million spent to improve Feather River levees in the past decade. Some estimates say it could take $375 million to bolster other levees in the Yuba City Basin.

The new agency will meet for the first time this week, when it is expected to appoint Bill Edgar, a former director of the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, as its interim executive director.