After decades of delays, the shovels have finally hit the dirt for the Pajaro River levee project.

Erik Chalhoub here. As a 20-year North County resident, a dozen of those covering the area for various outlets, I’ve heard all the talk and witnessed the delays and inaction when it came to the sorely needed rebuild of the crumbling Pajaro River levee. Sure, a 2012 project to clear out sediment in the river gave it some attention, but it was only a band-aid for a bigger problem.

The 2023 flooding forced hundreds of people to evacuate and caused an unknown amount in damages. It was yet another tragedy in the 75-year history of the levee.

Today, Oct. 2, marked a major milestone.

Officials celebrated the groundbreaking of the Pajaro River Flood Risk Management Project, which is expected to provide 100-year flood risk reduction to the area by constructing levees and improvements along the lower Pajaro River and its tributaries. 

The first section is being built in Watsonville, along Corralitos Creek, where there are currently no levees. Weeks before the levee breached in Pajaro, Corralitos Creek overflowed in early 2023 due to heavy rains, sending water through nearby businesses and homes in Watsonville, including senior neighborhoods, without much warning.

The overall project, which extends to Murphy Crossing near Aromas, is expected to take about five years and be done in phases.

Although it had been on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ radar for decades, it languished as a low-priority project due to a cost-benefit formula used by the federal agency.

But after the 2023 flood, lawmakers representing Pajaro at the state and federal levels, including Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, Senator John Laird and Reps. Jimmy Panetta and Zoe Lofgren, advocated and introduced bills to speed up the process and gain funding.

“This has been decades far too long,” Rivas said at today’s groundbreaking event. “This should have happened long ago. This is a community that never, ever gives up. You know how to work together, and we got the job done together.”

In late 2023, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Pajaro Regional Flood Risk Management Agency signed an agreement to share costs of the $599 million project.

Aid to Pajaro residents and businesses affected by the flood is ongoing. According to the County of Monterey, $1.379 million in funds have been distributed to residents and businesses over the past six months. The first phase of the Pajaro Disaster Assistance Program distributed $450,000 in grocery gift cards.

The relief money is a good start. But what Pajaro residents want and deserve is the security in knowing that the levee surrounding their community won’t burst at a moment’s notice during the winter. It’ll take a few more years, but it’s finally happening.