Governor Davis has been asked by numerous government bodies to declare a moratorium on habitat restoration in flood channels until flood hazard and economic impacts can be determined.

In unanimous votes, the Board of Supervisors of Colusa and Sutter Counties, the Colusa and Gridley City Councils, and the Paradise Town Council urged the governor to halt state participation in riparian restoration in both the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins. The actions were in response to educational efforts by Family Water Alliance because of concerns about safety and flood impacts from cumulative effects of restoration in the states’ flood control system. FWA warned that extensive habitat restoration in flood channels could increase the likelihood of flooding, remove thousands of acres from tax rolls in 15 counties and diminish farm production, the foundation of economic strength in rural counties.

In a letter to the governor, David J. Shoemaker, Colusa County Administrative Officer, noted that both the Sacramento River Conservation Area Forum and the Comprehensive Study of the two river basins by state and federal agencies are advocating widespread habitat restoration in the flood channels. Shoemaker referred to two local incidents during the 1997 floods to support the moratorium request. He noted that vegetation in a national wildlife refuge in Sutter Bypass caused a back-flow of floodwater, which may have been a factor in the Meridian flood. "Also, during the 1997 flood, the City of Colusa was advised by the OES (Office of Emergency Services) that if the Sacramento River rose one additional foot, mandatory evacuation of the town would be ordered," he wrote. "Will this happen again? It very well may, if decisions by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (F&WS) are allowed to stand without adequate research."

Shoemaker also cited a recent F&WS Environmental Analysis that studied two properties upstream from Colusa recently purchased for conversion to riparian habitat in the floodway. The analysis said that the restored vegetation would cause peak flood flows to rise only six inches and the project would remove only one-half of 1 percent of the county’s orchards. Shoemaker pointed out that while these impacts appear insignificant, when combined with similar impacts of several contiguous projects, they could cause a rise sufficient to flood Colusa. "At present there are no provisions to determine the cumulative effects of the F&WS riparian habitat conversion projects within the designated 222 miles of floodways between Keswick and Verona," Shoemaker said. "The lack of studies to show the cumulative effects on the floodways resulting from habitat restoration, the impacts on the economy of the counties within the two river basins, and the absence of a system-wide environmental analysis to determine all impacts of the programs are fatal flows in the current plan," he added.

"The County of Colusa believes that it would be irresponsible to allow the single-minded goal of habitat restoration to continue its dominance over all other consideration," he said. "We ask you for a time of reflection and study to allow for consideration of all ramifications resulting from implementation of habitat restoration projects."