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Tulare County staff outlines flood-control budget limits and major projects including Sultana, Antelope Creek and a Kings River study
Summary
Staff told commissioners the Flood Control District collects roughly $1 million annually from its ad valorem levy, has a substantial fund balance it seeks to leverage for grant-matched projects, and reported the Sultana storm drain closure, ongoing Kings River and Antelope Creek efforts and $2 million set aside for pump-system improvements.
County staff presented a detailed budget and project update for the Tulare County Flood Control District, describing limited ongoing tax revenue, a sizable fund balance and several projects in study or design phases.
A county staff member summarized the district’s funding: the levy is assessed as 2¢ per $100 of assessed valuation and yields roughly $1 million a year in property tax revenue, a sum staff said is intended primarily for administrative costs rather than large capital projects. "So the flood control district receives right about 1000000 dollars in property tax annually," the staff member said, and added that the district has a fund balance it has been using to leverage grant dollars for projects.
Staff reported the Sultana storm drain improvement project recently closed out at $650,000 and improved a storm basin and pump capacity at a Sultana intersection. The county is using Community Development Block Grant Disaster Resilience (CDBG-DR) funding triggered by the March 2023 storms to study and standardize about 40 storm pumps across the county. Staff said approximately $2,000,000 has been set aside to implement improvements identified by that study; the county as a whole received about $35,000,000 in disaster resilience funding, staff added.
On larger projects, staff described a seven-mile Kings River channel study that is incorporating community feedback and remains in the study phase. The Friant-Kern Canal/Strathmore project is in design; staff said they plan to follow up with the Friant Water Authority in early fall on multiple options to address flooding near Avenue 196 Bridge.
For the Antelope Creek project, staff said the project moved through the Cal OES/FEMA pipeline, lost funding, then re-entered FEMA’s RFI process; the project as built was sized for a five-year precipitation event and a funding agreement with the Soil Conservation Service (now NRCS through USDA) requires the district to operate the project for about 40 years. Staff urged greater City of Woodlake involvement as the city grows and annexes county land.
Commissioners asked for timeline estimates: staff said the Kings River study is expected to run about three years once funding is awarded and that schedule assumptions mean studies begun in late 2026 or early 2027 could complete around 2030. Staff noted general liability insurance costs rose and are expected to remain elevated on a five-year rolling average driven by countywide claims experience.
What happens next: staff will agendize the irrigation-district agreement and the ordinance update for a future meeting and will provide RFQ documents and follow-up timelines if projects receive awards.
