The San Benito County Board of Supervisors on Sept. 22 declared a local state of emergency following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide emergency declaration in preparation for potential impacts from the upcoming El Niño storm season.
Supervisors unanimously approved the declaration—the first in any California county since Newsom initially declared a statewide emergency. “The county is taking a proactive, preventative approach to forecasts calling for historically rainy winter months with the possibility of flooding and other damage,” says a press release from San Benito County.
The statewide and local declarations open the door for property owners and jurisdictions to clear out creeks, culverts, ditches and other infrastructure that impedes the flow of water, without the traditional approval process from California Fish & Wildlife, says the press release. With the local state of emergency declaration, the county also aims to recover local taxpayer funding that may be necessary to prevent damage and respond to storm impacts.
County agencies provided presentations at the Sept. 22 special meeting laying out their initial but aggressive planning for possible storm impacts, including details provided by the Sheriff’s Office, Public Works and the Health & Human Services Department.
County officials are working together to address key preventative and planning initiatives, such as:
• Clearing of creeks and other impediments to water flows.
• Notifying all property owners in potential flood zones by letter about lifted environmental restrictions and how to proceed with cleanups.
• Establishing on-call contracts for timely responses.
• Laying out plans for sheltering and evacuations.
• Developing partnerships with local nonprofits and other jurisdictions.
• Establishing an Incident Command and Emergency Operations Center for centralized communications.
• Scheduling public workshops to promote engagement.
• Initially allocating up to $500,000 in emergency reserves with the potential to allocate more funding if necessary.
“While storm seasons are unpredictable, San Benito County is preparing for the worst-case scenario amid growing concern from forecasters about the potential for historically strong storms this winter, with the worst conditions expected to arrive in December and January,” says the press release.
