Napa, CA – As relentless winter storms battered California in early 2023, the Sacramento River swelled dangerously close to flood stage. In the rural Delta town of Walnut Grove, farmers scrambled to prevent disaster, spending nearly $700,000 to stabilize a leaking levee with metal sheets and heavy rock. Two years later, the federal reimbursement that could help repay the emergency loan still hasn’t arrived.
“It was way beyond our means, but we had to do it,” said Daniel Wilson, a local farmer and trustee of the levee management district.
Across the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a vital yet fragile stretch of land crisscrossed by 1,100 miles of levees, local districts face a mounting crisis: crumbling infrastructure, increasing flood threats, and a broken funding pipeline.
A System at Risk
The Delta’s levees—some more than a century old—protect over 500,000 residents, major highways, vast farmland, and crucial pumping stations that supply water to two-thirds of California. Unlike other levee systems that only face pressure during storms, many Delta levees hold back water 24/7, functioning more like dams than temporary barriers.
“The system is unique and extremely vulnerable,” said Steven Deverel, a hydrologist who has studied Delta levees for decades. “You basically have holes in the ground as much as 25 feet deep, and the only thing keeping them dry is the levee.”
In 2004, a catastrophic breach at Jones Tract flooded 12,000 acres and required $90 million to repair. More recently, a near-failure at Victoria Island in 2023—just miles from pumps that serve 30 million Californians—highlighted how close the region is to disaster. A rupture there could have pulled in brackish Bay water and shut down water exports for weeks.
“That is considered one of the really good levees,” said Jeffrey Mount, a geomorphologist with the Public Policy Institute of California. “So what about the other ones?”
Deepening Debt and Delayed Aid
The Delta’s levee maintenance is primarily shouldered by local reclamation districts and landowners, many of whom are farmers already strained by drought, inflation, and rising costs. Maintenance projects are typically funded up front by these landowners, with the promise of partial reimbursement through state and federal programs.
But those reimbursements are now taking years to arrive.
“In the past, we’d finish a project in the fall and get the money by June,” said Gilbert Cosio, an engineer with River Delta Consulting. “Now we’re lucky to see it by fall of the following year—if at all.”
The delays leave districts accruing interest on loans they can’t afford to repay. In one case, a levee district near the Cosumnes River is still $7 million in debt after a New Year’s Eve levee failure in 2022 killed three people and shut down Highway 99.
Farmer Harvey Correia, who grows fruit near Isleton, said interest from delayed reimbursements eats into already thin margins. “We’re paying interest on loans while we’re waiting for money from the state,” he said.
A $30 Billion Problem
California water officials estimate it will take $1.06 billion just to bring Delta levees up to standard in the next five years. The cost balloons to $3.2 billion by 2050, and $30 billion across the Central Valley. The worst-case scenario? A catastrophic flood could inflict $1 trillion in damages, according to the 2022 Central Valley Flood Protection Plan.
While California has invested over $700 million in Delta levees since the 1970s—and earmarked $560 million statewide for flood protection in recent years—funding often comes in unpredictable bursts. One key source, the Delta Levees Maintenance Subventions Program, is currently funded by voter-approved bonds from 2006 and 2014, with just $14 million left.
Late last year, voters approved Proposition 4, a $10 billion water and climate bond, which includes $150 million for Delta flood protection. While local leaders welcomed the news, they warned it won’t be enough—and that it, too, will eventually run out.
“These levees aren’t going anywhere,” said Emily Pappalardo, an engineer whose firm led a recent $18 million upgrade near Isleton. “This is basic infrastructure. The costs are always going to be here.”
“Flood Memory” and Political Will
Experts say the inconsistent attention paid to levee infrastructure is part of a broader pattern of disaster amnesia in policymaking.
“It’s called the flood memory half-life,” said levee engineer Chris Neudeck. “How long does a politician remember a disaster? Six months? Nine months? If we don’t have a flood every year, we’re screwed.”
Stockton Congressman Josh Harder, whose district includes vulnerable Delta areas, said bureaucracy and funding gaps are putting lives and livelihoods at risk. He co-authored the Safeguarding Our Levees Act, a bill aimed at cutting red tape and increasing federal support.
“No family should have to watch floodwater pour into their living room while government stalls,” Harder said.
A Slow March Toward Modernization
Some recent projects offer hope. The levee upgrade near Isleton not only strengthens the riverbank but includes vegetated “benches” that provide habitat for wildlife while slowing water flow. Because of its environmental benefits, the state agreed to reimburse 94% of the cost—though even the remaining 6% was a challenge for the local district.
But such projects are few and far between.
“There’s no shortage of plans,” said Meegan Nagy, general manager of a levee district upstream of Sacramento. “Every district has a list of upgrades they want to do. They just need the money.”
Until funding becomes stable and reliable, communities in the Delta are left patching holes—literally and financially—and hoping that the next storm isn’t the one that breaks them.