Former Patterson mayor warns of disaster with Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir
Buried deep within a recent statement to “community members” and in reference to their Draft Environmental Impact Report, the Del Puerto Water District states: “Lengthy preliminary investigations did not reveal any fatal flaws.”
Where does the city of Patterson stand on exposing its citizens to a new natural hazard?
The California Natural Hazard Disclosure Act states: “Real estate sellers and brokers are legally required to disclose if the property being sold lies within one or more state or locally mapped hazard areas.” If the proposed Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir is built, the entire city of Patterson will be downstream of a brand-new natural hazard — a dam inundation zone.
What do Patterson city leaders think about the proposal? We don’t know; the city of Patterson is not listed as a responsible or trustee agency in the Draft Environmental Impact Report.
Most of the proposed reservoir area is contiguous to the western city limits of Patterson, however the reservoir water conveyance system, electrical substation and pumping station are proposed to be within city limits and would be integral to its operation. As such, a nexus is created requiring input from the city of Patterson for discretionary approvals, or permits.
In addition, the reservoir includes 650 acres of mixed-use land outside city limits, but within the city of Patterson General Plan study area. This land has been prezoned with development standards and is included in the city of Patterson’s 2010 General Plan Final Environmental Impact Report. The loss of this land represents an evaporation of a potentially valuable sales and property tax base for the city of Patterson or Stanislaus County. It also puts the Del Puerto Water District Draft EIR in direct conflict with the city of Patterson’s 2010 General Plan Final EIR.
Shades of St. Francis Dam
The sound of a crack in the middle of the night, or perhaps an earthquake rumble, seconds before a black nothing. Four hundred twenty-two lives were lost in an instant in 1928 when the St. Francis Dam failed near Los Angeles, creating the second-worst natural disaster in California’s history.
Oroville 2017
In February 2017, 188,000 people were evacuated from the Oroville Dam inundation zone as it teetered on the brink of collapse. Residents of Oroville and cities below barely dodged the bullet of a complete dam failure. Warnings by state engineers of weaknesses of the dam system were ignored by the state. Only by the grace of Thor did the rain stop and allow state legislators to scramble for a fix.
No fatal flaws, indeed.
David Keller served as a member of the City Council and mayor of Patterson.
This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 12:46 PM with the headline "Former Patterson mayor warns of disaster with Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir."