182 



Overcoming 

 Federal Water Policies 



The Wildcat-San Pablo Creeks Case 



By Ann L. Riley 



The average time spent plan- 

 ning a U.S. government -as- 

 sisted flood-control project 

 before construction begins 

 is 26.1 years.' These delays are a direct 

 result of federal policies and practices 

 that conflict with some basic commu- 

 nity needs. The deficiencies in federal 

 water-project planning policies and 

 their impacts on U.S. communities arc 

 manifest in the 33-year history of a 

 flood-control project in North Rich- 

 mond, California. North Richmond is 

 an impoverished, unincorporated com- 

 munity in Contra Costa County on the 

 eastern shore of San Pablo Bay, a north- 

 ern extension of San Francisco Bay (see 

 the map in Figure I on page 15). 



North Richmond grew up during 

 World War II when blacks who came 



AMN L. RJLEY is on leave from her position 

 as chief of ihe Financial Assistance and Envi- 

 ronmental Review Branch of Ihe California 

 Department of Water Resources in Sacramen- 

 to. Calilornia. Her involvement in the flood- 

 control proiecl for Wildcat and San Pablo 

 creeks has been as a citizen volunteer and not 

 as a government representative. 



to work in the shipbuilding industry 

 were segregated on the floodplains of 

 Wildcat and San Pablo creeks. The 

 creeks flood and cause poor drainage in 

 the vicinity almost every winter, but 

 more severe flooding puts North Rich- 

 mond under a foot of water about once 

 every three years. 2 The community's 

 need for flood control has never been 

 disputed. However, the problems in- 

 herent to federal policies regarding the 

 design and funding of flood-control 

 projects have repeatedly delayed its im- 

 plementation. During that lime, the 

 community has initiated herculean ef- 

 forts and innovations to overcome fed- 

 eral obstacles to funding such projects 

 for poor communities; designing proj- 

 ects that recognize local goals for eco- 

 nomic recovery and environmental 

 quality; and adjusting to the technical 

 vulnerabilities of traditional flood-con- 

 trol channelization. 



North Richmond is considered by 

 the U.S. Department of Housing and 

 Urban Development (HUD) to be one 

 of the most impoverished communities 

 in the country and, therefore, deserv- 



December 1989 



