INITIAL PUBLIC NOTICE
City of Watsonville Levee Embankment Stabilization Project
Santa Cruz County, California
HMGP-4344-371-099
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) intends to provide federal financial assistance under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) to the Santa Cruz County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, Zone 7 in Santa Cruz County, California, to install a sheet pile wall through the center of the existing Pajaro River levee adjacent to the southern edge of the Watsonville Wastewater Treatment Plant. The proposed action would protect the plant flooding if the levee is compromised by river erosion, slope failure, and seepage. Pursuant to Executive Order 11988 (Floodplain Management) and FEMA’s implementing regulations at Title 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 9, FEMA hereby provides interested parties with a notice of its intent to carry out an action affecting a floodplain.
The purpose of the proposed action is to reduce flood hazards to the Watsonville Wastewater Treatment Plant. The proposed action would fortify the existing Pajaro River levee by: 1) cutting a trench through the existing access road along the top of the levee; 2) performing deep excavations in five locations along the levee to access existing pipes; 3) cutting and removing sections of the pipes and removing portions of the sheet piles so the pipes can be reconnected; 4) installing the sheet pile wall for approximately 2,300 feet along the levee and 25 feet deep; 5) restoring all disturbed portions of the asphalt access road.
The project area is in the 100-year floodplain as depicted on the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) Numbers 06087C0393E, effective May 16, 2012. The FIRM shows that the project area lies within Zone AE, an area that has a 1-percent probability of flooding each year and where predicted floodwater elevations have been established.
Additional information about FEMA’s proposed action, including maps showing the potential impacts on floodplains, may be obtained by writing the FEMA Region IX Environmental Officer at FEMA, 1111 Broadway, Suite 1200, Oakland, California 94607, or fema-rix-ehp-documents@fema.dhs.gov, or calling (510) 627-7027. All requests should be received within 15 days after publication of this notice.