Orestimba Creek Feasibility Study - Stanislaus County

Economics Appendix – Draft Report - Orestimba Creek Feasibility Study, Stanislaus County, California – September 2012
Regional Economic Development (RED)
The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) planning guidance notebook (ER 1105-2-100) states
that while National Economic Development (NED) and Environmental Quality (EQ) accounts
are required, display of Regional Economic Development (RED) is discretionary. The Corps
1991 NED Procedures Manual states there should be no doubt that RED benefits are real and
legitimate benefits. The concern, from a federal perspective, is that they are often offset by RED
activity in other regions. But for the local community, these benefits are important and can help
them in making their preferred planning decisions.
Existing guidance from USACE offers limited detail in describing either the definition or the
procedures to determine RED. Principles and Guidelines (P&G 1983) states that the RED
account registers changes in the distribution of regional economic activity that result from each
alternative plan. Evaluations of regional effects are to be carried out using nationally consistent
projections of income, employment, output and population.
A detailed writeup of the RED analysis performed for Orestimba can be found in Attachment C.
Other Social Effects (OSE)
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.”
A detailed writeup of the RED analysis performed for Orestimba can be found in Attachment D.
Additional Flood Related Risks
In addition to the monetary losses to categories listed above, flooding from Orestimba Creek
could have other damage impacts and place many public services at risk, and if reduced would
provide additional non-monetary benefit. Emergency costs (about 6% of total damages)
evaluated in this appendix were limited to evacuation, relocation and temporary assistance based
on examples of similar flood risks found on other flood damage studies in Northern California.
Administrative costs and increased public services such as police and fire were not included in
these emergency cost estimates primarily due to lack of available data regarding any comparable
historical flooding within the area. Nationwide, where depth of flooding and duration of event
were much greater, some studies have estimated total emergency costs (including temporary
relocation, evacuation, public administration, additional emergency healthcare and increased
labor) as high as 15% of the total without-project damages. While the emergency costs listed for
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