Orestimba Creek Feasibility Study - Stanislaus County

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Economics Appendix – Draft Report - Orestimba Creek Feasibility Study, Stanislaus County, California – September 2012 Attachment D: Other Social Effects (OSE) This report presents the results of the Other Social Effects (OSE) account analysis associated with the Orestimba Creek Feasibility Study Report. The Study includes levee modification alternatives specifically designed to decrease flood risks for rural areas and the City of Newman in western Stanislaus County, California. The most recent flood events to occur within the project area were in 1995 and 1998. The OSE account describes the potential social effects of the project that are not covered by the National Economic Development (NED), Regional Economic Development (RED), and Environmental Quality (EQ) accounts. The four accounts comprise the Principles and Guidelines evaluation framework by which, according to ER 1105-2-100, any project’s effects, beneficial and adverse, can be evaluated and the alternative subsequently “selected and recommended for implementation if it has, on balance, net beneficial effects after considering all plan effects, beneficial and adverse.” This report analyzes the social effects related to the With-Project condition and the Without Project condition (No Action Plan). The .01 flood event is the basis for the analysis of impact. Particular effects evaluated as a part of the OSE include social effects such as health and safety, security of life, community impacts, and displacement of persons and businesses. This investigation is intended to look at the social climate of the study area. In a sense, this study is meant to provide a glimpse as to the vulnerability of the population that calls Newman their home. Historic Flooding - Newman Flood overflows from Orestimba Creek into the town of Newman, California have been experienced 14 times in the past 56 years; the last being in 1998. Since then, however, high water within the Orestimba Creek channel has caused issues concerning road closures, and traffic re-routing. In 2006 and 2009 high water flowing over local rural roadways was the cause of two deaths due to motorists attempting to cross. In town, historic flooding has caused extensive damage due to sediment laden water diverted along roadways and railroad embankments eventually flowing through the downtown area and surrounding residential streets. Not to discount the damage, the town has been fortunate to have survived all these flood events without a loss of life. One of the contributing factors to this is the fact that the diversion of water into Newman takes many hours to manifest itself, allowing sufficient time for town folk to prepare for the eventuality. Social Issues Social vulnerability is a term described by both the sensitivity of a population to natural hazards such as floods and its ability to respond to and recover from the impacts of the flood event. In emergency planning, social vulnerability is captured under the heading of “special needs populations.” What is the homeless population and where are they How many tourists are in 88
Economics Appendix – Draft Report - Orestimba Creek Feasibility Study, Stanislaus County, California – September 2012 town that may need help in evacuating How full are the large hospitals, outpatient clinics, and mental health care facilities What about nursing homes Prisons The healthy poor are rarely considered as a special needs population, even though they lack the financial resources to respond to emergencies. There is anecdotal evidence for understanding the characteristics of people that make them more sensitive to the effects of floods and their ability to adequately respond and recover. Race/ethnicity, socioeconomic class, and gender are among the most common characteristics that define vulnerable populations, along with age, migration, and housing tenure. For example, the elderly may be more vulnerable in the event of a flood due to physical limitations that influence their inability or unwillingness to comply with mandatory evacuation orders. Additionally, older people may experience declining cognitive abilities to process hazard information necessitating specially targeted risk communication or warning messages. Elderly residents also may be impacted more severely as a result of having fewer resources to repair damaged homes due to their fixed income status. Thus, the greater the proportion of elderly in a community, the more vulnerable it is and the longer it will take for the community to fully recover from the flood event. As the effects of flooding in and around Newman California are evaluated, we must recognize that flooding in the area has been experienced in recent history and that a flood event is relatively shallow in nature. It is expected that there will not be “roof-top” photographs of stranded residents as a result of flooding. However, the impacts of the flood event can be devastating to individuals, families, and businesses. With and Without Project Condition Measure of Effects Corps assessments of beneficial and adverse effects are based on comparisons of the Project alternative to the Without Project alternative conditions expected to prevail in the future in the absence of a proposed water resources project. The social effects of the alternatives have both direct effects and indirect effects. Direct effects result immediately from constructing the project. Indirect effects result from the effects of the project on the existing social environment in the study area. Methodology In evaluating the social impacts it must be recognized that the study area is an area in transition seeing growth patterns that are quite significant. The population and other social related demographics of the area will be discussed and related to their vulnerability within the context of the one percent likelihood of occurrence (100 year flood event). Discussion of the impacts of the project alternatives will be added where appropriate. Additionally, the impact of actual project construction activities may include issues of which the local administrators should be aware. Construction efforts are expected to take place over a period of two construction seasons with the increase in skilled workers that are expected to come 89
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Orestimba Creek Feasibility Study - Stanislaus County

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