The cities of Lathrop and Manteca are planning on receiving funding for levy work to control flooding.This funding will be nothing but a sacrificial attempt at bandaiding flood control. The root cause of the problem is silt and sand that reduces the depth of the river. Re-enforcing the height of the levy won’t resolve the problem. The river will constantly be under the forces that has rendered it as a flood problem. Dredging the depth of the river is the only safe solution to this on going problem. Let’s look at the facts, council, in addressing this issue. It is apparent that the river has flooded a number of times, that is why the levy is in place. In the past, officials built the levy to retain the river in it’s channel during flood conditions. Work has also been conducted on  a continuous basis and flooding of it’s banks in the recent past has proven that re-enforcing the height doesn’t prevent flooding. When tributaries cause the San Joaquin to shallow out in depth in the future, the height of the levy will be useless in flood control. The strength of water is listed as one of the most powerful forces on earth.

 Stockton has a deep-water channel in the San Joaquin that facilitates large ship UN-loading. This channel couldn’t be helped by a levy, for it has to be periodically dredged to maintain the depth of this vital shipping channel. It is the same scenario that must be performed on the river in the Manteca and Lathrop area if this river is contained in flooding. Money is hard to come by and it should be spent on a permanent fix, not a risky short term solution. Has Lathrop and Manteca consulted an authority on flood control before committing this money to shoring up the Levy. There is no legitimate firm that would suggest raising the height of the levy, in lieu of dredging the channel to move flood waters rapidly, with the Consistent shallowing out of the river depth.

It would appear as though the two councils don’t care about a long-term solution to flooding, or the people who are affected. This council would agree to a short-term fix to satisfy the state requirement, so they can develop more homes in a flood plain and base Wolf Resorts in Manteca. This selfish trend has prevailed in the thoughts of past and present councils. It would appear as though listening to people is something that seldom happens in Manteca.

Fleener Richards