Public Safety
State Auditor: Nearly a Third of Central Valley Levee Agencies Performing Unacceptable Maintenance
A California State Auditor report warns that nearly one-third of local agencies responsible for flood control levees in the Central Valley have been performing "unacceptable routine maintenance," some for years. The audit found the Department of Water Resources has not followed state law requiring it to take over maintenance when local agencies fail, putting more than a quarter-million people, 133,000 buildings worth nearly $40 billion, and hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland at increased flood risk. DWR disputes the audit's methodology, arguing that routine maintenance is not the sole or always most effective factor in reducing flood risk. The report also notes that since 2012, state water managers have been unable to complete repair projects for 14 of 48 critical sites as of August 2026, and Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill earlier this fall that would have created an annual repair fund for 1,100 miles of aging Delta levees.