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Merced County updates Black Rascal Creek flood‑control plan, cites federal permitting delays and new grant funding
Summary
County public works and Jacobs Engineering briefed supervisors on plans to realign roughly 1,800 feet of Black Rascal Creek, detain about 2,500 acre‑feet for a 200‑year event and move toward bid documents this summer; speakers said NRCS authorization unlocked roughly $7 million in federal construction funding but Army Corps permitting and a dam designation are delaying bids.
Merced County officials on Jan. 28 updated the Board of Supervisors on the long‑running Black Rascal Creek flood‑control project, saying design is nearly complete but federal permitting remains the critical bottleneck.
Nathan Bray, Merced County director of public works, said staff is seeking an amendment with Jacobs Engineering to extend the firm’s design contract through bidding and construction so the county can move quickly once permits are cleared.
Rob Tull, Jacobs Engineering consultant, told the board the project would provide 200‑year flood protection for parts of the city of Merced and Franklin/Beachwood, realign about 1,800 feet of creek, construct embankments and primary and auxiliary spillways, and detain approximately 2,500 acre‑feet of water for a 200‑year event. “The NRCS Office of the Chief did authorize the project back in November,” Tull said, adding that makes the project eligible for roughly $7,000,000 in NRCS construction funding and that the county has an additional near‑$6,000,000 Department of Water Resources grant with a 15% local cost share.
Tull said the team has issued 90% design and anticipates bid documents in July, but remains dependent on a Corps of Engineers approval process and associated 408 and 404 permits. He described extra federal review after the Corps designated parts of the project subject to dam safety requirements, which added a requirement for a semi‑quantitative risk assessment and an independent panel review.
Supervisors and community representatives pressed county staff on timing and risk. “I’m just putting my frustration out there because I have a community…we’re in a rainy season again,” Supervisor McDaniel said, asking whether the Corps’ pending comments would jeopardize federal funding. Tull replied staff is “working with the county, working with the flood board, working with the Corps” and that a successful Corps risk management decision would allow bidding and, subject to encroachment and flood‑board permits, construction to begin in December 2025 with about a 27‑month construction schedule.
Board members also discussed mitigation‑credit purchases and asked that staff be prepared to present specific asks during upcoming meetings with federal partners. Bray told the board the amendment under consideration would allow Jacobs to continue services through procurement and construction so the county can act quickly if the Corps issues a letter of permission.
The board did not take separate substantive policy action on the presentation beyond moving forward with staff recommendations in the DPW consent motion later in the meeting.
What’s next: staff said they are preparing bid‑ready documents contingent on Corps comments and will send a letter to NRCS to request federal funding once the Corps and other permits are in hand.
