Potential for flooding on the American River levee at the GuyWest Bridge has been named as a concern by a U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers report.

The report, which has caused delays in flood certification forSacramento, identify nine different areas of levee erosion as athreat for flooding in Sacramento.

Sacramento city and county officials were expecting a 100-yearflood certification, but the dangers associated with the erosionare sited as reasons why the Federal Emergency Management Agencydid not approve the certification.

Civil Engineering professor, Ralph Hwang teaches a class onwater resources and flood control at Sac State. He said that theflood protection standards needed for proper certification changethroughout time.

“We measure the level of protection needed for Sacramentolevees through the volume of previous floods,” saidHwang.

Protection levels are based on historical records of floods,especially large extraordinary floods known as 100-year floods. The100-year floods occur randomly. The term is used to describe adrastic flood that commonly happens at least once within a span of100 years.

Hwang said this does not mean Sacramento will have one every 100years, and these floods can occur years in a row or neveragain.

The last 100-year flood in Sacramento was in 1986, when theAmerican River reached a flow of 134,000 cubic feet per second.This flood caused officials to set higher protection levels. Thelevee can now hold up to 145,000 c.f.s., an approximately 9 percentlarger flood than experienced in 1986.

Hwang said that the Sacramento metropolitan area is like a”big pond, with water flowing in from two directions.”He said the American River is susceptible to flooding because ofextreme pressures on levees when the flow of the American Riverenters the Sacramento channel.

The rivers meet at Discovery Park in downtown Sacramento.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers identified the eroded areas asproblems and is currently working on a design plan for repairs.

Sac State graduate Mark Ellis is the project manager for theArmy Corps of Engineers. He said that the Army Corps, along withthe Department of Water Resources and the Sacramento Area FloodControl Agency, are working together and sharing the cost ofrepairs.

“If all the pieces fall into place, the work could becompleted within a year,” said Ellis.

Ellis said that levee floods and levee failure cannot bepredicted, but the levees and Sac State can currently be consideredsafe. He said students need not be concerned.

During a time of flood danger the Army Corps oversees patrollingof the levee for potential problems and contractors are availableto address any signs of weakness.

When asked what the odds are of a levee bust during finals weekand subsequent canceling of the last week of classes, Ellis said”the odds are about the same as any student getting a perfectscore on every final.”