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Hazard Identification

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Hazard Identification 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose Calaveras County Water District (CCWD) prepared this Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) update to guide hazard mitigation planning to better protect the people, property, and water and wastewater facilities of CCWD from the effects of hazard events. The plan underwent a comprehensive update in early 2018 building upon the plan that was previously updated in 2012, and originally updated in 2006. This plan demonstrates CCWD’s and the community’s commitment to reducing risks from hazards and serves as a tool to help decision makers direct mitigation activities and resources. This plan was also developed to ensure the District’s continued eligibility for certain federal disaster assistance: specifically, grant funds available through the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program (PDM), and the Flood Mitigation Assistance Program (FMA). 1.2 Background and Scope Each year in the United States, natural disasters take the lives of hundreds of people and injure thousands more. Nationwide, taxpayers pay billions of dollars annually to help communities, organizations, businesses, and individuals recover from disasters. These monies only partially reflect the true cost of disasters, because additional expenses incurred by insurance companies and nongovernmental organizations are not reimbursed by tax dollars. Many natural disasters are predictable, and much of the damage caused by these events can be reduced or even eliminated. Hazard mitigation is defined by FEMA as “any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to human life and property from a hazard event.” The results of a three-year, congressionally mandated independent study to assess future savings from mitigation activities provides evidence that mitigation activities are highly cost-effective. On average, each dollar spent on mitigation saves society an average of $4 in avoided future losses in addition to saving lives and preventing injuries (National Institute of Building Science Multi-Hazard Mitigation Council 2005). An update to this report in 2017 (Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves: 2017 Interim Report) indicates that mitigation grants funded through select federal government agencies, on average, can save the nation $6 in future disaster costs, for every $1 spent on hazard mitigation. Natural hazards mitigation is defined as any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long- term risk to human life and property from hazards. Natural hazards mitigation planning is the process through which natural hazards that threaten communities are identified, likely impacts of those hazards are determined, mitigation goals are set, and appropriate strategies that would lessen the impacts are determined, prioritized, and implemented. This plan documents CCWD’s natural hazards mitigation planning process, identifies natural hazards and risks within Calaveras County, and identifies the District’s hazard mitigation strategy to make the District less Calaveras County Water District 1.1 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan vulnerable and more disaster resistant and sustainable. Information in this plan can be used to help guide and coordinate mitigation activities and local land use decisions. The four goals of CCWD’s 2018 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan are to: 1) Provide protection of life and public health and safety 2) Reduce risk and vulnerability to existing and future facilities from hazards 3) Maintain current service levels and prevent loss of services 4) Improve education, awareness, coordination, and communication with District staff, first responders, emergency management planners, public, and other stakeholders This is a single-jurisdictional plan that covers the water district only. Because CCWD’s boundaries are contiguous with Calaveras County boundaries, the planning area is considered Calaveras County. The CCWD Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee (HMPC) addressed only natural hazards; man-made hazards are addressed in their emergency response and related plans. This plan update was prepared pursuant to the requirements of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-390) and the implementing regulations set forth by the Interim Final Rule published in the Federal Register on February 26, 2002, (44 CFR §201.6) and finalized on October 31, 2007. (Hereafter, these requirements and regulations will be referred to collectively as the Disaster Mitigation Act (DMA) or DMA 2000.) While the act emphasized the need for mitigation plans and more coordinated mitigation planning and implementation efforts, the regulations established the requirements that local hazard mitigation plans must meet for a local jurisdiction to be eligible for certain federal disaster assistance and hazard mitigation funding under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Act (Public Law 93-288). This planning effort also follows to FEMA hazard mitigation planning tools: FEMA’s 2011 Local Plan Review Guide and the 2013 Local Mitigation Planning Handbook. Because CCWD is subject to many kinds of hazards, access to these programs is vital. Information in this plan will be used to help guide and coordinate mitigation activities and decisions for local land use policy in the future. Proactive mitigation planning will help reduce the cost of disaster response and recovery to communities and their residents by protecting critical community facilities, reducing liability exposure, and minimizing overall community impacts and disruptions. CCWD has been affected by hazards in the past and is committed to reducing future hazard impacts and maintaining eligibility for mitigation-related federal funding. 1.3 District Profile CCWD includes all of Calaveras County in the central Sierra Nevada foothills in the northeastern portion of California. CCWD’s boundaries encompass approximately 657,920 acres of land ranging from the San Joaquin Valley to the Sierra Nevada Mountains. See Figure 1.1. It is a rural area with many small communities, some of which are rapidly urbanizing along its western border. San Andreas, the County seat, is approximately 100 miles east of San Francisco and 60 Calaveras County Water District 1.2 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan miles southeast of Sacramento. The City of Angels is the only incorporated community in Calaveras County. Calaveras County Water District 1.3 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Figure 1.1: CCWD Base Map Calaveras County Water District 1.4 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Population current resides in many of the County’s small, historic communities that were established during the Gold Rush period. These residential communities are located along the historic routes of State Highway 49 and 12 and include the unincorporated communities of Mokelumne Hills, San Andreas, Valley Springs. Other residential area are located along State Route 4 and include Copperopolis, Murphys, and Arnold. Other communities include Wallace, Burson int eh western portion of the County, West Point, Wilseyville, and Mountain Ranch in the north-central part of the County, and Avery and Dorrington along Highway 4. From 2007 to 2010, there were a number of residential subdivisions build near Valley Springs, Copperopolis, and along Highway 4, while some residential parcels were developed in the more rural western, southern, and central parts of the county. Also, many new residential projects were proposed and build leading up to the economic crisis of 2007-2008, but never completed. The growth rate has since declined (Calaveras County 2016). While the previous 1996 General Plan accommodated previous population growth by identifying large areas of land for residential development throughout the western and central portions of the County, and within “community centers” in areas around existing communities, most of these areas have yet to be developed and fully built out. There were six Community Plans adopted during the 2000 to 2010 decade targeted for development: Valley Springs, San Andreas, Mokelumne Hill, Murphys-Douglas Flat, Avery-Hathaway Pines, and Arnold. Two Special Plans were also adopted for Rancho Calaveras and Ebbetts Pass, and in 2004 a Specific Plan was adopted for a large development project in the Copperopolis area: Oak Canyon Ranch. Little development has occurred in these communities compared to the San Joaquin Valley and other adjacent counties. 1.3.1 History and Organization CCWD was organized in November 1946 under the laws of the State of California as a public agency for developing and administering water resources and wastewater services in Calaveras County. The District owns two hydropower projects: the North Fork Stanislaus Hydroelectric Development Project (FERC 2409), completed in 1990; and the New Hogan Power Project (FERC 2903) on the Calaveras River, completed in 1986. CCWD is a non-profit governmental agency also known as a “special district”, conducting business in the performance of public services for Calaveras County, and is governed by an elected five-member Board of Directors that is elected by qualified voters in the District to four- year terms. The District’s service area includes all of Calaveras County, but it is administratively and fiscally independent from the Calaveras County government. CCWD is the largest public water purveyor in the county in terms of service area, number of customers served, and amount of water delivered. As a special district, CCWD’s authority includes providing public water service, water supply development and planning, wastewater treatment and disposal,
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