On April 12, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and U.S. Representatives Zoe Lofgren and Jimmy Panetta hosted an afternoon press conference in Watsonville to discuss federal efforts to reduce flood risk for the historically underserved communities of Watsonville and Pajaro.
The visit came in the wake of a devastating breach of the aging Pajaro River levee, flooding the community, displacing hundreds of families and leaving fields too wet for spring planting before the $400 million levee reconstruction scheduled for 2025 could begin.
Zoe Lofgren
Alex Padilla
Jimmy Panetta
Padilla, along with Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Reps. Lofgren and Panetta, sent a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers urging the agency to move up the timeline for the federally authorized project to reduce flood risks, and to provide emergency repairs and response for the towns of Pajaro and Watsonville.
Photos of Pajaro show piles of possessions outside homes ready to be taken to the landfill.
Last month, Padilla pressed Director of the Office of Management and Budget Shalanda Young to ensure adequate resources go to historically overlooked and low-income communities like Pajaro, which disproportionately bear the impacts of natural disasters due to inadequate protection.
Padilla, Feinstein, and Panetta secured $149 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law with Lofgren’s support to address the urgent flood risks along the Pajaro River, including the modernization of the 74-year-old levee system that breached before improvements could be made.
The visit also comes as Padilla and Lofgren successfully led the California Congressional delegation in urging the Biden administration to approve a Major Disaster Declaration for the most recent severe winter storms and atmospheric river systems. This allowed Pajaro residents to apply to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for individual assistance for damage or loss of their homes and possessions.
The 2010 U.S. Census reports 652 homes in Pajaro with only 3 vacant, but Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo thinks that may be an undercount.
Dr. Mark Strudley, who heads the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency, was on hand for the press conference.
Top Photo Credit: Jeremy Lezin