Redwood City has some good news about the schedule for resuming the Levee Improvement Project: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has granted permission for the City to resume work in July, 2010, instead of waiting until September.

As reported in the March issue of the Pilot, levee improvement work around Redwood Shores was halted after January 1, 2010 due to the start of the California Clapper Rail nesting season, as directed by the USFWS. At that time, we were informed that levee work could not resume until after September 1, 2010, the conclusion of the nesting season.

The City directed its environmental consultant to conduct a clapper rail survey, and clapper rails were not detected around the levee construction area. The result of that survey, as well as a request to resume levee construction work prior to September, was submitted to the USFWS for consideration. Authorization to resume levee construction work was granted on June 14, 2010, and the City’s contractor will most likely be able to mobilize in early to mid July.

The levee work will consist mainly of levee path restoration along Steinberger Slough, installation of sheet piles (hard, vinyl “siding” on the levee) around the wastewater treatment plant, and project site clean-up and restoration. This work is anticipated to continue through August.

In regards to levee certification, the draft certification package has been submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for review. The County of San Mateo and the City of San Carlos have received certification packages prepared by the City to bring to their respective Board and Council for adoption in August, to include in the final submittal to FEMA. Levee certification is on track and completion is expected this fall.

Thank you again for your continuing patience as the City continues working on this project on behalf of the Redwood Shores community.