Pajaro still under risk within the storm season, agencies say; levee repairs are underway

PAJARO, Calif. (KION-TV) - It looks like a normal day in Pajaro. However, for this community, the fear of another flood never goes away. In March of this year, the Pajaro River levee broke into three sections. Much of the town of Pajaro was underwater.

"We had to leave. We left everything", Silvestre Vargas said.

He has lived in Pajaro for 10 years. He works in a local tortilla factory and remembers the night of March 11th and early morning of March 12th, when he and his family had to leave his house in the middle of the flood.

"When we came back, after three or four days, we went we went outside because they wouldn't let us pass. Because everything was already flooded. We lost our bed, furniture, everything", Vargas said.

Officials cannot guarantee that it won’t happen again. 

"This is a river that brings down water from Santa Clara County, San Benito, Santa Cruz, and Monterey. Four counties. Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo said. "We have water coming from different fields, different from so many different properties to a river and to a levee system that was built before the storms of decades ago".

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the site one of the levee is already repaired. They say that should help with flooding in downtown Pajaro".

"That 400-foot gap that they fixed was built to today's engineering standards," said Mark Strudley who is. is the Executive Director of the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency.

Strudley said the repair makes that part of the levee "stronger than 400-foot section than the older levees to the immediate right or left of it, which are the original 1949 levee system."

According to engineers, the other two ruptures may cause flooding in agricultural fields and Highway 1. Work on site 3 is underway.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it was delayed due to the removal of water in that area. They estimate that it will be completed in two weeks, and site 2, located near Highway 1 will be repaired in January if the weather allows.

"We do not expect to have any construction for sites one, two, and three ongoing into the summer. That is not the plan. That's not our goal", says Tommy Williams, Deputy Project Manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the San Francisco District.

However, even with repairs underway, the risks remain.

"There does continue to be risk. And we're all very conscious of that. And and we don't want to we don't want to pretend that there isn't risk associated with these repair sites right now because that would be an insincere, disingenuous approach", Williams says.

The Pajaro River Levee was built in 1949 but reached its useful life decades ago.

The Army Corps of Engineers says the new levee will protect the river for 100 years.

According to the agencies involved in the project, they expect to start building the new levee in 2024 and finish it in around 7 years.

"The Army Corps looked at a benefit-cost ratio and they used this analysis that really sort of hurt people rather than help people", U.S. Congressman Jimmy Panetta explains.

Why did it take too long to have protection for Pajaro and surrounding communities?

"The levy and the infrastructure repair is based on tax base within the communities borrows a community of 3000 working-class community does not have a great deal resources Watsonville has 50,000 people a lot more wealth so you could do the tax on each of those and which is which money is going to be available to maintain those levies", Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church said.

Church represents District 2, which includes the Pajaro area.

"So we know that this has been something that the communities asked for a very long time, It's not that there hasn't been a lack of ask from the local elected officials for the residents, and local businesses." Alejo said. "And just finally, our state agencies are recognizing that the risk is so, so great against the poorest residents of our communities."

Also, families in Pajaro are still waiting for help

"They said we would get help. They lied. We didn't get a dime from FEMA", Silvestre Vargas said

The State of California approved $20 million in funding for Pajaro.

"For those individuals who don't have their papers, it's especially devastating because they're not eligible for any of the assistance programs that others have, which is so unfair because they're paying their taxes just like everybody else, and yet they are excluded from the help they need", Congresswoman Zoe Lofgreen remarked. 

Monterey County will give money to businesses and families affected by the flooding. In addition, there will be projects for the community.

"That money was very much needed. Yes, FEMA came in here to provide some help. The state created a storm assistance program for undocumented immigrants that helped some families, but it wasn't enough. These small businesses didn't qualify for any help except another loan, which many cannot afford", Alejo says.

Rainy days are expected during Christmas, a time when locals hope the levee can resist so as them.