Operations and Maintenance

Ongoing maintenance will be necessary for the Lower Pajaro River Flood Control Project, as well. For alternatives with bench excavation, this maintenance includes in-stream clearing to maintain flood conveyance capacity. Studies by water resource agencies determined that a maintenance program modeled after the San Lorenzo River maintenance program would be feasible and appropriate for the Pajaro River, as well.

This operation and maintenance requirements for such a program will be described in detail in the draft EIS/EIR, due to be issued in 2015. In the interim, the USACE is reviewing the Salinas River and San Lorenzo operations and maintenance programs to identify key elements that should be included in the Pajaro River operations and maintenance program. This information, along with recommendations from resource agencies, will form the basis of the operations and maintenance program for the Lower Pajaro River Flood Control Project.

Adaptive Management
A key element of the preliminary operations and maintenance program for the flood control project is performance-based adaptive management, which will allow the local community to continually adapt operations and maintenance practices based on the success of past efforts.

Budget
A preliminary operations and maintenance budget has been developed by the local sponsors to provide a means of comparing relative maintenance costs of different project alternatives.