NEWMAN – Work is moving forward on the campaign to build a flood control project on Orestimba Creek, a gathering of representatives from the federal, county and city level was told during a recent briefing in Newman.

Congressman Dennis Cardoza and Col. Tom Chapman, the Sacramento District commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, were among those in attendance at the briefing, which included an update on the status of the project and a tour of local sites of importance to the project.

The group’s stops included a visit to the site of a proposed upstream detention dam west of the California Aqueduct.

An alternative favored by many, the detention dam would collect storm runoff from the hills and allow the water to drain away through the creek channel slowly enough to avoid the flooding which has longed plagued area farmers and has occasionally flooded into Newman.

The other alternative being considered is a levee system to steer floodwaters away from the city.

“Over the next few months the project team will be assessing the benefits and cost for each alternative. This will include looking at various features for each alternative and different levels of protection to maximize the net benefits,” project manager Dave VanRijn commented in an email from the Corps of Engineers.

He said he expects the public comment period on the project to take place in December 2009.

Cardoza and Chapman each expressed a strong desire to move the flood control project forward.

It has been 10 years since the county and Corps of Engineers joined forces to explore the feasibility of a flood control project, after Newman flooded in 1995 and again in 1998.

Cardoza has been a strong backer of the flood control project.

Although it has been a decade since Newman last flooded, Cardoza said, the problem has not been resolved.

“We all know that Newman has flooded 14 times in the last 51 years,” he commented at the briefing. “It is something the community should not have to put up with. It is something that we can’t tolerate any longer.”

DeeDee D’Adamo, senior policy advisor for Congressman Cardoza, said after the briefing that Cardoza favors the upstream dam alternative as most beneficial to both the city of Newman and the surrounding agricultural interests.

“This is one of his top priorities,” she said of the project. “Congressman Cardoza saw first-hand the devastation to the community. It is important for him to move this along so we can get flood protection for the area.”

A number of agencies and elected officials have been involved in the project, D’Adamo noted. In addition to Cardoza, Assembly member Cathleen Galgiani and State Senator Jeff Denham have been involved.

On a more local level, Supervisor Jim DeMartini and Newman Mayor John Fantazia have played key roles, she said, and the Corps of Engineers and California Department of Water Resources (which owns the site of the proposed detention dam) have assigned top staff members to the project.

“We have put together a very good team,” D’Adamo said. “We have a good combination of the right level of decision-makers.”

The project, D’Adamo reflected, is moving into a new stage.

“We are finally starting to get some of the details on costs, economics and hydrology. Instead of talking conceptually, we are moving forward into getting detailed information,” she noted. “We are starting to get answers to specific questions.”

Funding, of course, remains an obstacle which must be overcome.

The Army Corps of Engineers will identify the alternative which has the most advantageous cost-benefit ratio, which sets the maximum dollar amount of federal funding which might be approved under a cost-sharing formula.

The local community must come up with the difference – and can choose the more expensive alternative if it is willing to fund it.

Matt Machado, director of public works for Stanislaus County, said the plan is to create a benefit assessment district as a local funding source. Machado said the district would include about 3,000 parcels. Creation of a benefit assessment district would require voter approval of affected property owners, he noted.

“The cost locally would be less than buying flood insurance,” Machado explained. “I am confident that the local side will form an assessment district and raise the money for a flood control project. The big wild card is where the federal funding is going to come in.”

He said he believes the recent briefing and tour was of great benefit.

“Colonel Chapman is fairly new to the district and wanted to come out and see the project for himself,” Machado noted. “I think it really hit home with the Corps representatives that there is an issue here that needs to be solved.

“There is some good momentum right now,” he added. “We’re trying to keep everybody on schedule and on budget.”

Ultimately, Machado and D’Adamo stressed, the local community will have the final say on which flood control option is pursued.

“In the end, this is a community decision,” D’Adamo said. “A project cannot be built without community support.”