Gov. Wilson Backs Plan to Prepare for Major Floods

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Pete Wilson on Friday endorsed proposals to spend $31 million on flood control measures, but said the sensitive question of controlling development on flood plains needs further study by a new task force.

Wilson’s proposals stemmed from his Flood Emergency Action Team’s final report, a 285-page document released at a news conference in Wilson’s office.

The report includes 55 recommendations for preparing California for major floods, including more than $10 million for levee improvements on the American and Sacramento rivers and the first comprehensive study of the Sacramento Valley flood control system in 90 years.

It suggests ways to improve local emergency response plans and procedures for evacuating mobile home parks and rescuing pets and livestock in the event of major flooding. And it calls for restoring the floodway on the lower Tuolomne River to twice its current capacity.

The team’s report also updated damage estimates for this year’s flooding to $2 billion, more than half to public property, including roads and flood-control facilities.

Most controversial is the report’s recommendation for close consideration of nonstructural flood control measures, including a stronger state role in monitoring development in flood plains.

Wilson appointed a flood plain management task force, consisting of 11 agency heads from his administration, to consider those issues and report back to him by March 1, 1998.