Flood-control agency warns of severe funding shortfall; staff to draft resolution to ask state to study takeover of project levees

Madera County Water and Natural Resources staff reported on Dec. 3 that the Flood Control and Water Conservation Agency faces a substantial funding gap that limits routine operations and larger maintenance work on project levees and channels.

Director Stephanie Agneson summarized 2024 accomplishments — inspections, targeted mowing, rodent‑control contracts, levee road repairs, and partnership work with River Partners for Arundo removal where grant funds permit — then described the agency’s structural funding shortfall. The county receives a roughly $1,000,000 property‑tax allocation for flood control, but an ERAF (Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund) adjustment reduces that locally available revenue to about $250,000. By contrast, state guidance and a consultant estimate put the funding level needed to operate and maintain project levees at roughly $5–5.5 million annually.

Agneson and consultant Scott Brown (Larsen Wurzahl) outlined three core challenges: excessive sediment and vegetation (including invasive Arundo), rodent damage to levees, and permitting constraints for in‑channel vegetation removal (California Department of Fish and Wildlife and federal requirements). Staff noted that many grant programs restrict work to specific reaches, which leaves wide areas unfunded. The county has pursued grants and signed memoranda of understanding with conservation partners, but grant funding alone does not provide reliable, county‑wide sustainable funding for maintenance work.

One option presented to the board is to ask the Central Valley Flood Protection Board and the State for a study to evaluate whether the state should assume responsibility for project levees and channels (a formal “turnback” study). That process would first determine costs and benefits; if both parties agree, the state could assume some project levee operations and maintenance responsibilities. Agneson said the process is lengthy and would not affect non‑project levees, which would remain with the county. Supervisors expressed interest in pursuing the study; several members asked staff to return with a draft resolution or steps to initiate formal conversations with the state.

Staff emphasized that without new, sustained local funding, the county’s ability to prevent erosion, manage invasive plants and control rodents is limited and that that limitation increases risk to downstream communities. The board directed staff to return with a resolution to start the formal dialogue with the Central Valley Flood Protection Board and to provide more detailed cost estimates and options for revenue generation.