Levee Break in Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Declared a Federal Disaster

A levee break that flooded an island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta was declared a federal disaster Thursday by President Bush, qualifying the state and local governments for millions of dollars in federal aid.

The breach last month ruined farmers’ homes, killed animals and left 12,000 acres of crops under water. While officials in San Joaquin County welcomed the disaster declaration, many farmers were disappointed that Bush had offered federal dollars only to local public agencies, and not individual farmers and homeowners.

“We’re very grateful,” said Rick Marcucci, who lost his entire crop in the flood. “It’s obviously going to take a lot of the burden off the county and state, but as far as the farmers go, it’s going to be pretty tough.”

Bush’s declaration means the federal government will pay for 75% of the repair efforts by public entities, such as farmers’ associations and San Joaquin County. Under the plan, the state would shoulder about 17% of the remaining costs and the local government about 8%.

State Assemblyman Guy Houston (R-Livermore) has introduced a bill to make the state pay all the remaining costs after federal aid. And county officials still hope to persuade the federal government to help individual farmers.

Farmers have also had trouble collecting from their catastrophic-insurance policies with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Their claims will not qualify if the department rules that the flood is not a “natural” disaster.

“I think it’s basically semantics,” farmer Rudy Mossi said. “The levee break was not our fault. We should qualify.”

Not necessarily, said Bill Murphy, regional risk management director for the USDA.

“It seems like the levee break was a result of several things, like rodents burrowing into the dirt, high tides ... but early reports also mentioned poor maintenance and engineering,” he said.

Murphy submitted a report to USDA attorneys Thursday and expects them to make a decision next week.

Since the day the break occurred, workers have labored around the clock to repair the 400-foot breach. After hauling in about 200,000 tons of rock, workers finished filling in the breach Wednesday. Officials plan to begin pumping out the water July 11, which could take up to three months.

The area and its residents are recovering from the disaster. County workers are clearing debris off damaged roads. Farmers have scheduled a meeting next week with local officials to plan how to reclaim their land. And many of the animals stranded by the flood have been reclaimed by their owners.

“Someone even came by to pick up the huge wild boar we found,” said animal control officer Ron Cotta.

All that is left from the flood, Cotta said, are eight dogs, which may be put up for adoption, and a giant lake where an island used to be.