The West Sacramento study area is located in eastern Yolo County in the north central region of California’s Central Valley. The study area approximately corresponds with the city limit for the city of West Sacramento comprising 13,000 acres of mixed-use land and an estimated population of 47,000 residents.
Surrounded by water during the winter months, West Sacramento depends on levees for the safety of its residents. A few years ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed levee improvements authorized through the West Sacramento Project that were intended to provide an increased level of flood risk management for the city.
Since those upgrades were completed, under seepage deficiencies have been discovered with some of the levees surrounding the city. While levee improvements authorized for construction were redesigned to address any underseepage deficiencies, the remaining levees were not authorized to be reevaluated.
As a result, the West Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency (WSAFCA) initiated a thorough state and locally-funded review of its flood risk management system. Since 2009, the Corps of Engineers has been conducting a General Reevaluation Report in cooperation with project sponsors to evaluate the levee system and determine the federal interest in reducing the flood risk for the City of West Sacramento.
The project sponsors have completed the design and construction of three early implementation projects as part of the West Sacramento Levee Improvement Project. Another early implementation project to construct a setback levee along the Sacramento River is currently in design.