Site work for a water / sewer project in Pajaro, California. Working plans call for site work for a water / sewer project.

Pajaro River Flood Risk Management Project Plans call for a levee project to prevent flooding in the Pajaro and Watsonville areas. California Assembly Bill 876 was signed into law. This bill would exempt the Pajaro River flood control project from various state and local environmental laws and regulations, only if specified criteria are met and only until a specified date, and as of that date would repeal these provisions. The bill would provide, among other exemptions, that a specified report, as described, shall be conclusively presumed to satisfy the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act for the Pajaro River Project, including to support the issuance of any permit, funding, or other approval by a state or local agency for the Pajaro River Project when implementing the California Environmental Quality Act. The bill would also require the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency to consult with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board regarding the avoidance, minimization, or mitigation of specified environmental impacts, on or before March 1, 2024, as provided. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Monterey and Santa Cruz. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. As of January 2024, construction documents are expected to be complete in the spring of 2024, with construction expected to begin in the summer of 2024. The project will be managed by the USACE in partnership with PRFMA and the state.