Flood Protection for Rural Communities, Agriculture, Evacuation Routes

Reclamation District (RD) 1500 faces a growing critical need. Situated in the Sutter Basin--a 264 square mile rural lowland area in Northern California's Central Valley--the RD pumps stormwater to keep 60,000+ acres of farmland free of flooding and ready for use. The RD's pumps, which are located at its Karnak Drainage Facility, also protect from flooding the rural community of Robbins, various agricultural facilities, and State Route (SR) 113, an emergency evacuation route for the Yuba City Metro Area located 25 miles north. 

Unfortunately, however, the Karnak facility is ageing, with parts of the facility over 100 years old. Its antiquated pumps and much of its core equipment are no longer manufactured, and parts are increasingly unavailable or must be custom-fabricated. As a result, required repairs and ongoing maintenance at the pump facility are becoming more frequent and more costly, while the facility's reliability continues to wane.

This aging infrastructure and lack of available parts puts all land within the RD 1500 service area at risk in the event of a significant rainfall or flood event. Should this antiquated system fail during a major event, 30,000+ acres of farmland and rural lands could become inundated with water for an extended period, affecting the subsequent growing season and agricultural productivity across the southern Sutter Basin. Moreover, SR 113 would be in jeopardy of flood closures, while catastrophic property damage and potential loss of life are possible in the community of Robbins and the surrounding area.

To help address these concerns, in 2020 FlowPath began working with RD 1500 leadership and its engineering team to develop and support deployment of a project that would modernize the Karnak facility and protect these areas from catastrophic flooding. Strategic planning pointed strongly to the need for external funding--preferably through a grant, given an anticipated facility cost of $50+ million. FlowPath worked with RD 1500 to socialize its concept with funding agencies and key community leaders. Based on that feedback, FlowPath further worked with RD 1500 to hone its concept project to align with funding available through the US Department of Agriculture, while working to garner buy-in from key government entities. To this end, FlowPath successfully secured over $600,000 in initial funding to complete alternatives planning, environmental compliance, and engineering / design for the project. FlowPath also supported RD 1500 through a full economic evaluation and comprehensive cost-benefit analysis for the project, helping to open up an additional $53 million in follow on funding to build the project.

Slated to break ground in early 2026, FlowPath's efforts will have ultimately helped to reduce costs to RD 1500's constituents by 80%+ while transforming a project from financially impossible to manageable.