SACRAMENTO – Three years after a catastrophic levee breach along the Pajaro River forced thousands of residents to evacuate and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, Senator John Laird (D–Santa Cruz) has introduced Senate Bill 1055 to help accelerate critical flood protection projects along the river.

SB 1055 will expand the contracting tools available to the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency (PRFMA), allowing the agency to deliver levee repairs and flood control improvements more efficiently.

“Communities along the Pajaro River have experienced repeated flooding over many decades, and the devastating 2023 floods made clear the importance of continuing to strengthen our flood protection infrastructure,” said Laird. “SB 1055 gives the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency additional tools to deliver levee and flood control improvements more efficiently and help protect Pajaro Valley communities.”

Currently, PRFMA is limited in the types of procurement methods it can use to deliver construction projects. These restrictions can slow project delivery and limit the agency’s ability to control costs and maintain critical flood protection infrastructure.

SB 1055 would authorize PRFMA to use additional contracting methods, including Job Order Contracting, Design-Build, and Construction Manager/General Contractor contracting, providing the agency with greater flexibility to deliver projects more efficiently and reduce delays. SB 1055 helps reduce project costs and accelerate construction timelines.

The Pajaro River levee system was originally constructed by the federal government in 1949 to protect the communities of Watsonville and Pajaro. Since then, the river and its tributaries have experienced major floods in 1955, 1958, 1995, 1998, and most recently in March 2023, when a levee breach of approximately 400 feet forced roughly 3,500 residents to evacuate and caused an estimated $300 million in damage to the Pajaro community.

SB 1055 is sponsored by PRFMA, which oversees flood protection infrastructure for the Pajaro River.

“PRFMA greatly appreciates the involvement by our legislative delegation and the leadership of Senator Laird and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas in developing legislative solutions to obstacles that could delay the timely completion of this regionally significant flood control project and increase the cost of the project,” said Ari Parker, Board Chair for PRFMA. “SB 1055 is the latest effort by Senator Laird to provide PRFMA with the same type of public contracting tools that other public agencies have which in the long run will enable PRFMA to use its limited resources more efficiently when negotiating contracts for a wide array of project-related services while keeping costs within the affordability range for the vulnerable disadvantaged communities in the region.”

SB 1055 builds on Laird’s longstanding work to improve flood protection along the Pajaro River. While serving in the California State Assembly, Laird authored AB 2348 (2006), which authorized the state to share in the costs of flood control projects along the Pajaro River. More recently, Laird authored SB 496 (2021) – co-authored by Rivas – which authorized the California Department of Water Resources to cover 100% of the state’s cost share for Pajaro River flood control projects, and SB 489 (2022), which authorized the state to advance funding for the Pajaro River Flood Risk Management Project.

In 2024, legislation authored by Rivas and coauthored by Laird helped expedite flood control improvements along the river by streamlining certain environmental review requirements.

“The 2023 floods made clear the importance of continuing to strengthen flood protection infrastructure in the Pajaro Valley,” Laird said. “We need to keep working at every level of government to reduce the risk of future flooding and protect our communities.”