With runoff from record-breaking snowpack expected to inundate the area, the levee needs to be raised by four feet to avoid flooding.
However, the Cross Creek Flood Control District, which is responsible for the levee, has only $1 million to complete a project that is estimated to cost between $17 million and $21 million. The district and the city of Corcoran have urgently requested funding from various sources, including the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, but it remains uncertain whether they will receive any financial assistance.
This is not the first time the Corcoran levee has needed to be raised. In 2017, the levee had sunk several feet below its original height and required $10 million in repairs. The mostly farmworker residents of Corcoran voted to add an extra $250 to their property taxes for three years to pay for the repairs, and the Department of Corrections also contributed close to $6 million.
Even if the Corcoran levee is raised again, it may not be enough to prevent flooding in the area due to subsidence caused by excessive groundwater pumping. In 2017, an engineering report commissioned for the High-Speed Rail project documented significant topographical changes caused by subsidence that would cause three flood zones to merge, potentially putting the rail line in the path of catastrophic flooding. The report warned that the resulting flood depth could potentially be more than 16 feet, and the length of the HSR alignment within the modified flood zone could potentially be more than 20 miles.
This year, areas around Tulare Lake that had not flooded before were inundated after a storm drenched the region and washed down an unusually large amount of low-elevation snow. Some farmers blamed the giant J.G. Boswell Company, which owns most of the Tulare Lake bed and its levees, for holding water off the lake bottom in order to plant tomatoes and pushing it onto neighbors south and east of Corcoran. Others say there was just such a rush of water down the Tule River and Cross creek that breaks were bound to happen.
As the subsidence around Corcoran continues, the old Tulare Lake footprint is predicted to morph from mostly egg-shaped to more of a lopsided mushroom, with greater amounts of water at the top of the lake that will spread out to the east and south. Water managers have already installed lift stations to pump water from the Angiola water district southeast of Corcoran up and into canals that cross the lake bed. If there hadn't been pumps moving water from Deer Creek up into the lake bed earlier this spring, it would have flooded nearby farms and towns. The area around Angiola has sunk 24 feet in the eight years since Deer Creek had its previous surveys done.
This is not the first time the Corcoran levee has needed to be raised. In 2017, the levee had sunk several feet below its original height and required $10 million in repairs. The mostly farmworker residents of Corcoran voted to add an extra $250 to their property taxes for three years to pay for the repairs, and the Department of Corrections also contributed close to $6 million.
Even if the Corcoran levee is raised again, it may not be enough to prevent flooding in the area due to subsidence caused by excessive groundwater pumping. In 2017, an engineering report commissioned for the High-Speed Rail project documented significant topographical changes caused by subsidence that would cause three flood zones to merge, potentially putting the rail line in the path of catastrophic flooding. The report warned that the resulting flood depth could potentially be more than 16 feet, and the length of the HSR alignment within the modified flood zone could potentially be more than 20 miles.
This year, areas around Tulare Lake that had not flooded before were inundated after a storm drenched the region and washed down an unusually large amount of low-elevation snow. Some farmers blamed the giant J.G. Boswell Company, which owns most of the Tulare Lake bed and its levees, for holding water off the lake bottom in order to plant tomatoes and pushing it onto neighbors south and east of Corcoran. Others say there was just such a rush of water down the Tule River and Cross creek that breaks were bound to happen.
As the subsidence around Corcoran continues, the old Tulare Lake footprint is predicted to morph from mostly egg-shaped to more of a lopsided mushroom, with greater amounts of water at the top of the lake that will spread out to the east and south. Water managers have already installed lift stations to pump water from the Angiola water district southeast of Corcoran up and into canals that cross the lake bed. If there hadn't been pumps moving water from Deer Creek up into the lake bed earlier this spring, it would have flooded nearby farms and towns. The area around Angiola has sunk 24 feet in the eight years since Deer Creek had its previous surveys done.
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