All water sources in California are owned by the state or federal government. Individuals cannot own rivers or creeks but they can own land that borders flowing water and have a right to a certain amount of water flowing past their property. When it comes to any maintenance or work in the river, however, they must comply with state and federal agency regulations.
The Salinas River is overseen and regulated by no less than three state and federal agencies: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the California State Water Resources Control Board, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which is a state agency that also works with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
These agencies regulate any maintenance of the Salinas River, including recent emergency maintenance during the January and March floods of 2023.
Salinas River flows have changed in the last 100 years wIth the construction of the Reservoirs at Lakes Nacimiento and San Antonio and the mandating of winter releases. As a result, vegetation in the Salinas River has also increased, contributing to changes in river flows as well. An invasive bamboo-like species called Arundo grows up to 30 feet tall along more than 1,500 acres down the Salinas River, drawing water from river flows and increasing sediment build up.
As vegetation and sediment in the Salinas River and secondary stream channels build up, the risk of flooding increases dramatically. This explains why 2023 river levels were significantly less than in previous years but the impact of flooding was exponentially more.
State and federal agencies offered special emergency permitting to growers in 2023 to restore their property along the river to pre-flood conditions. This did not apply to work in the river, however, even if new stream channels or river banks threatened existing river levees.
Hydrologists from the Monterey County Water Resources Agency admitted that the recent flooding events undermined the models used to create maintenance permitting frameworks.
Growers and landowners throughout the Salinas Valley are working together with legislators to create a more robust river maintenance program and permitting system to prevent large-scale flooding and promote better river flows for groundwater supply, wildlife, and sustainability.
For more information, visit: https://www.siliconvalley.com/2023/04/17/salinas-valley-growers-say-much-of-flood-damage-due-to-choked-river/
