The State Plan of Flood Control is a descriptive document that details the infrastructure and operation of the state-federal flood management system that includes 1600 miles of project levees, five major weirs, four dams, six pumping plants, floodways, bypasses and drainage facilities. SPFC infrastructure influences flooding and flood management on more than 2.2 million acres in the Central Valley that stretch from Red Bluff to Fresno and include facilities within the Delta.
The State Plan of Flood Control facilities are comprised of numerous separate projects along the mainstem and tributaries of Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers which have been built incrementally over the years since the project was first federally authorized in 1917.
State Plan of Flood Control Facilities are those structures and facilities for which the Central Valley Flood Protection Board or the Department of Water Resources has provided assurances of cooperation to the federal government; it is these State-provided assurances that are an important distinction for what constitutes the State-federal flood protection system. These other flood protection facilities in the Central Valley that are not covered by State assurances and are not part of the State-federal system are included in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Flood Management System defined in the California Water Code Section 9611.
It is important to note, however, that State Plan of Flood Control facilities are only a portion of a larger flood control system; other non-SPFC facilities work in conjunction to provide flood protection. For example, upstream reservoirs regulate flows to levels that can be managed by SPFC facilities; private levees and locally operated drainage systems work in conjunction with SPFC facilities; and emergency response, floodplain management and other management practices are all part of the overall flood protection system.
