Merced County prepares for El Niño

Merced County agencies are not optimistic about an El Niño rainy season, but they’re sprucing up flood management plans just in case.

Merced County’s Office of Emergency Services received a $90,000 grant from the California Department of Water Services to update its flood emergency response plan, county officials said. The Office of Emergency Services is working with the county’s six cities, the San Joaquin Levee District, Merced Irrigation District and other agencies to discuss flood responses within the county.

“The main focus is to have coordinated efforts,” said Jeremy Rahn, a battalion chief with California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the county Office of Emergency Services.

The county also is offering training on “flood fighting,” which includes how to prepare sandbags and repair levees, Rahn said.

Federal meteorologists recently said the El Niño event is already the second strongest on record for this time of year. California’s state climatologist noted that only half of the big El Niños have brought meaningful, heavy rains. The warming of waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean, an El Niño pattern, has the potential to increase rainfall in California.

Emergency planners said the prolonged dry conditions across the state could lead to more debris, fallen trees and flooding during early rains.

For years, Merced County has worked to develop the Merced Streams Project, which aims to develop options for flood protection along Black Rascal Creek, Bear Creek and other county areas, said Mike North, a county spokesman. Entities have worked collaboratively on the project so streams can convey water in flood situations.

It was unclear whether the county Public Works Department has done work to clear basins or repair roads that may be washed out in the case of a flood.

Merced Irrigation District – which allocated very little water to farmers this year in the state’s fourth year of drought – is part of the county flood control and response efforts. Though MID met with the county to discuss the potential of an El Niño, the irrigation district remains skeptical, said Mike Jensen, a spokesman for MID.

“We’re hopeful, but not counting on it,” he said. “We’re not counting on it, and we don’t want our growers to count on it.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story was originally published August 26, 2015 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Merced County prepares for El Niño."