Ditches, Disease, and Delay: Palermo's Flooding Failures.*

Butte County Public Works is responsible for and can be authorized by CDFW to clean all ditches for the citizens of Butte County, including Palermo. This will ameliorate the flooding, causing school closings, business losses, car accidents, street obstructions, and health hazards. Response: The respondent disagrees wholly with the finding. Explanation: Butte County Public Works is responsible for maintaining drainage ditches and culverts only within the county-maintained road system and associated rights-of-way. Public Works does not have the authority to maintain or clear stormwater ditches located on private property or outside of its jurisdiction. Utilizing public funds to perform work on private property could violate constitutional restrictions on using public funds for private benefit. Additionally, entering private property without proper legal access or permission could constitute trespassing, which could expose the County to legal liability. A "Palermo Master Drainage Plan Conceptual Solutions" technical memorandum, prepared by Wes Yost and Associates in 2024, identified a myriad of contributors to flooding in the Palermo area. Key contributors include several undersized tributary channels that traverse the community, as well as the railroad tracks along the western edge, which prohibit water flow to the west. This infrastructure is outside of the county's authority and jurisdiction to maintain. More broadly, the memorandum identifies more than $112 million in recommended improvements to alleviate flooding, of which less than 3% is under the county's jurisdictional authority. It's important to note that the recommendations in this study were assessed as standalone improvements. Implementing standalone improvements without an understanding of the system's impacts could exacerbate flooding issues elsewhere in the community. A more comprehensive Palermo Drainage Master Plan is scheduled for completion by the end of 2025, at which time these recommendations and cost estimates will be updated. While Public Works does maintain a Routine Maintenance Agreement (RMA) with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), this agreement is limited to specific maintenance activities and only applies to jurisdictional features located within 200 feet of county roads. It does not grant Public Works the authority to perform maintenance on privately owned ditches or features outside the County's jurisdiction.

A small stormwater drainage system at Lincoln and Palermo Road is inefficient and insufficient to move water out of that area, causing potholes and risk of car accidents in this heavily trafficked area. Response: The respondent disagrees wholly with the finding. Explanation: While drainage challenges can contribute to road degradation and localized flooding at the intersection of Lincoln and Palermo Road, they are not the sole cause of potholes or traffic safety issues. Other factors contributing to pavement deterioration include heavy traffic loads, thin or aged pavement layers, and seasonal temperature fluctuations that affect the roadbed. Improvements to the drainage infrastructure at this location were completed in June 2022 through the Public Works Job Order Contracting (JOC) program. These upgrades have improved localized drainage, but additional work is needed downstream along the open channels to mitigate the impacts of flooding further. However, much of the area requiring improvement is outside the County's right-of-way, which limits Public Works' ability to proceed without legal access and funding agreements. Similarly, while standing water may increase roadway hazards, vehicle collisions result from multiple contributing factors, including but not limited to distracted driving, speeding, impaired driving, and driver fatigue. Assigning primary causation to drainage alone oversimplifies a more complex public safety issue. Palermo citizens deserve clean, safe streets and a community that is protected from annual

flooding by having ongoing maintenance of Butte County-owned infrastructure. Response: The respondent disagrees wholly with the finding. While Public Works agrees that Palermo residents deserve safe streets and protection from flooding where feasible, the implication that such outcomes can be fully achieved through ongoing County maintenance alone is inaccurate and misleading. Public Works maintains infrastructure within its jurisdiction, including drainage and roads in the County-maintained system. However, many flooding issues in Palermo involve areas outside of the County's jurisdiction or are impacted by private infrastructure, limited drainage capacity, and environmental regulations. Palermo infrastructure improvement projects addressing flooding issues are not included in

the 2024 Butte County Public Works Infrastructure Master Plan. Example: Palermo Four Corners Storm Water Drain System Project Response: The respondent agrees with the finding. Butte County Public Works has grant writing expertise, but sometimes must also rely on

outside grant writers with its implied additional expense. Other county departments rely mainly on outside grant writers but would favor using county grant writer staff who are currently overworked. Response: The respondent disagrees partially with the finding. Explanation: Public Works maintains internal grant-writing expertise and, when necessary, supplements this capacity by utilizing contracted consultants to assist with complex grant applications. Public Works also maintains a contract with CA Consulting Company, which provides professional grant support services. Public Works holds quarterly meetings with the consultant to identify funding opportunities that align with capital project needs and operational priorities. Public Works defers to its peer departments when considering its needs and objectives.