Tribune file/Debra Reid - Sandbags and plastic sheets were deployed as flooding threatened warehouses on Coney Island Drive in 2006.
Even in this harsh budget climate, the director of the Truckee River Flood Control Project said she is optimistic that government leaders at all levels will see the value of an ounce of prevention versus a pound of cure.
The Truckee River Flood Control Project aims to restore the river to a more natural state, blending needed flood control with recreational access and conservation.
Duerr said the overall project is expected to seek approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, then seek $400 million in federal funding. However, an additional estimated $400 million will be sought from state and local governments, Duerr said.
In spite of the economic downturn, with budget cuts at the local, state and federal levels, Duerr expressed assurance that receiving Congressional funding for the project was still realistic.
“I definitely feel very positive about receiving federal funding,” Duerr said. “We have received a lot of support from Sen. Harry Reid’s office and from the assistant secretary from the Army Corps of Engineers office. They said the project has a very good cost-to-benefit ratio. Everyone has said it’s full steam ahead.”
Three Truckee River restoration and flood control projects are preparing for construction in the coming months: the 102 Ranch, Lockwood restoration and Indian Colony flood wall. These “Truckee River Action” (TRAction) projects will precede and give the larger flood control project a running start.
A fourth project, the relocation of the North Truckee Drain that runs along Sparks Boulevard, is in the midst of feasibility studies through the city of Sparks, in preparation for design work.
The goal is to begin construction on Aug. 1 for the 102 Ranch project, located east of McCarran Ranch, and the Lockwood river restoration project five miles east of Sparks. Washoe County will consider entering into a construction agreement through The Nature Conservancy, which is leading river restoration efforts at McCarran Ranch, Duerr said.
It first must be approved by the flood board during its May 9 meeting, then will be considered by the Board of County Commissioners later in May, Duerr said.
“(Experts) are just wrapping up feasibility studies on the North Truckee Drain, to see where they want to go with that,” Duerr said of the plan to move the drain’s intersection with the river further east to provide flood protection to the Sparks Industrial Area.
In the next couple of weeks, the Washoe County Board of Commissioners will consider accepting design and construction bids for a flood wall and levee system on lands owned by the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony located near the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno.
“This has been a learning experience for all of us,” Duerr said.
In the long run, the project could more than pay for itself in flood damages decreased or avoided, Duerr said.
“Repair has a great economic fallout,” Duerr said. “They will avoid billion-dollar impacts caused by flooding. Look at the people in Fernley. The flood waters go away in a couple of days, but the effects are lasting. At the end of the day, (government) knows that prevention pays.”
If approved for adequate funding at the federal, state and local levels this fall, key parts of the Truckee River Flood Control Project could begin immediately. Duerr said work on the project could provide a great number of local jobs, thus boosting the economy.
“There’s a lot of spin-off benefits,” Duerr said. “People will be making money and working locally. Assuming it’s funded, it will have a tremendous positive impact by employing engineers, the environmental community, cultural anthropologists, design consultants and the construction industry. They will all be working and this is an extreme positive for us.”
Design and construction of all parts of the project could help fuel the local economy for years to come, she noted.
“The positive benefits will go on for 10 to 15 years,” Duerr said.
In addition, the completed project will provide protection from flood devastation and the costly impacts of rebuilding the economy after a natural disaster.
The 1997 New Year’s Flood caused an estimated $500 million in physical damages and $200 million in economic impacts to the entire Reno-Sparks area (in 1997 dollars). Project manager Paul Urban said that same amount of flooding today would cause over a billion dollars of damage to the area.
The Army Corps of Engineers and flood control project will work on the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) studies in July. Duerr expects to submit the entire project to Congress for funding consideration in the fall.
Generally, the Army Corps of Engineers tends to build flood control projects in the downstream areas first, Duerr said. The Corps has split the Truckee River Flood Control Project into three sections, and if approved for funding, may start near Pyramid Lake or on the eastern sides of each of the three sections of the project.
The Truckee River Flood Control Project is a collaborative project among the three local governments, the University of Nevada, Reno, Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Pyramid Lake Paiutes, along with environmental, water quality, flood control and recreation representatives.
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