SCH Number 2012032019

Project Info

Title

Pajaro River Bench Excavation Project

Description

The project proposes to excavate excess sediment from select locations along the upper terrace benches inside the Pajaro River levees in order to improve the flood carrying capacity of the levee system. The proposed project would create a two-year floodplain to re-establish flow levels at bankfull capacity. The proposed bench excavation project is also specifically designed to relieve the magnitude and severity of potential flooding caused by failure of the Pajaro River levees. Modeling results have determined that a volume up to 336,000 cubic yards could be excavated from eleven locations along 7.5 miles of the levee benches between Highway 1 and Murphy Road Crossing. The excavation sites span 39.1 acres and include nine excavation sites within Santa Cruz County, and two sites within Monterey County.

4 documents in project