Here is a snipped from the Coachella Valley Water District concering the porposed levee in Thousand Palms:

Thousand Palms Flood Control project moves forward

Design work for the long awaited thousand Palms Flood Control Project is underway wiith CVWD and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers receiving the final federal funds in 2007. The design phase started in 2000, but approximately $1 million in funding was needed to complete the work. The federal government is funding 75 percent of the project’s cost and CVWD is funding the remaining 25 percent. While CVWD has budgeted its portion, federal appropriations are sometimes redirected based on national priorities, including funding for the war in Iraq and cleanup following hurricane Katrina.

Final funding for this Project came a year after CVWD hosted a helicopter tour for Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) John Paul Woodley Jr., and his Staff . The tour was designed to help them better assess the area’s flood protection needs, especially in Thousand Palms.

The Thousand Palms Flood Control Project will ultimately remove 2,800 acres of land occupied by an estimated 9,500 residents from an alluvial floodplain. It is being designed to protect against flooding from a 100-year storm. The design consists of a series of earthen levees and channels which divert the flood flows away from the Thousand Palms area into the Whitewater River Stormwater Channel, which in turn carries the water to the Salton Sea. Flooding in 2005 showed first-hand the effects that even minor rain can cause in an area not protected from flooding. In addition to property damage, roads were closed and some residents were stranded.

The design of the project is expected to take approximately one year to complete. Construction, once it begins, will take another two to three years. While the process has taken time, the project remains a high priority for the water district.

Old Jim said:

Strange, I posted a response to this yesterday but it never showed up.

I was updating the blog software yesterday so maybe I was in the middle of that when you tried to post!? although you typically post in the wee hours of the morning, and I wouldn’t be up at 2am working on this site

Anyway this is good to hear. I just hope in the next three or more years we don’t get that 100 year storm. I also hear that the water district is bringing in another water supply line into Thousand Palms ( Specifically Tri-Palms Estates) to help alleviate our fluctuating water pressure problem.

Thanks for the heads up and info John.

yea, a "100-year" storm wouldn’t be good. I don’t have a water pressure problem here, but boy is my water allot harder that it was in Palm Desert. I wonder if this new water line if going to alleviate my hard water problem? My neighbor spoke with the water district and they mentioned it was because the pipes coming into TP are much older than in other places. I don’t know, I’m thinking of a water softener anyways.