Plan would move some prisoners from Corcoran’s prisons
-April 12,2023-
Kings County Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Richard Valle says he expects flood damage could reach $2 billion in property and other economic consequences from foothill water that continues to flow into the Tulare Lakebed around Corcoran. Called “the big melt” the snowpack is starting to stream down from the foothills as the Valley gets its first 80 degree days.
Kings County Ag Commissioner has received estimates of approximately $800 million in Ag losses. And that is only so far,
The escalating estimates are up from a damage estimate of $1 billion printed in the Fresno Bee in the past week.
Valle, who uses social media to communicate with constituents and leaders in Sacramento, pleaded in a video on April 11 on Facebook that “we need funding now” to help raise the levee around Corcoran. He was standing next to the flood impacted levee. With the big state prison just one field over – there is “obviously a dangerous situation” if the levee would overtop.
In the past week a JG Boswell representative speaking at a BOS meeting said to expect 1 million acre-feet of water to swamp the lakebed.The representative responding to tension over where the flood water is going saying they “are trying to work with the County, but 1 million acre feet of water, can’t be mitigated.” He agreed with other local officials that the levees need to be elevated to “save the City of Corcoran and the State Prison facility.”
The worry is that this is just the beginning of trouble with Kings County Sheriff Dave Robinson saying he expects the potential for more flooding to continue until September.
A recent Sentinel report said the “horseshoe-shaped levee that stands between Corcoran and the 1 million acre-feet of snowmelt expected to fill the Tulare lakebed this spring will be raised by 3.5 feet starting immediately, the city and Cross Creek Flood Control District announced Friday.”
Valle told locals on his Facebook page that he is hopeful for state funding to raise the Corcoran levee- something already underway using some local reserve funds but not enough to raise the levee to an adequate height.
Top priority
Valle added he hopes funding for the levee will be announced with a visit by the Governor to the area. He said the state’s top emergency official did come to Kings County and told Valle the flood situation here “was her top priority.”
Valle says experts are estimating just how much snow melt could be heading for the lakebed – information needed to decide how much to raise the levee and what funding levels are needed to do it.
Looking to get the state’s attention, Valle posed for a photo with the two Corcoran state prisons in the background Tuesday noting the state needed to protect the investment in facilities and all the staff and prisoners. The two prisons have 8138 inmates and 9611 staff.The facilities were built just where Tulare Lake once was the largest body of water west of the Mississippi.
View of Corcoran prison shows the Corcoran levee in background
Valle has said the state is expected to move some prisoners from the two facilities including the most dangerous ones and a large contingent of medically infirmed prisoners who can’t simply hop on bus if need be. He say he supports the idea.”It’s just logistics.”
Valle adds he is concerned that whatever happens, the state should not close the Corcoran facilities with all the jobs and economic impact that the prisons have here.The state has said they planned to reduce the number of prisoners statewide and close 6 prisons this year. Not here though.”We can’t’ afford to lose the Kings County facilities ” he adds. Each prison has a budget of over $100 million.
Valle says that FEMA had already started distributing emergency supplies around the county placed on high ground.
Valle is the Board of Supervisors lone Democrat – perhaps with a better chance to reach out to Sacramento’s Democratic leaders. The County is expecting the state to add Kings County to President Biden’s emergency funding declaration.