The Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency is a joint powers authority with control shared between Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, the city of Watsonville, the Santa Cruz County Flood Control and Water Conservation Zone No. 7, and the Monterey County Water Resources Agency. Formed in 2021, the agency will plan, finance and implement projects and programs to reduce flood risk from the lower Pajaro River and its tributaries in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
The Pajaro River Flood Risk Management Project—a $400 million effort to reduce flood risk from the lower Pajaro River and Corralitos and Salsipuedes Creeks—will provide 100-year flood protection to the city of Watsonville and the town of Pajaro, and a mix of 100-year and 25-year flood protection to the surrounding agricultural areas.
Later this year, the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency will start construction of its $600 million Pajaro River Flood Risk Management Project, a long overdue effort to improve levees along the Pajaro River and Corralitos and Salsipuedes creeks.
The legally binding agreement between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Pajaro Regional Flood Risk Management Agency describes the $599 million project and the responsibilities of both parties.
Work is underway to bore a tunnel under Highway 1 in Watsonville, which is part of the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency’s College Lake Water Supply pipeline project.
From Monterey County Weekly...
Two years after its formation, the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency is already at risk of breaking up.
