LEVEE ENCROACHMENT REGULATIONS -- Adopted August 18, 1993
Downloadable PDF Forms
Table of Contents
|
|
Section I. Purpose.
The purpose of these Regulations is to protect the integrity of the levees of Reclamation District No. 3 from the adverse effects caused by improper alterations to or encroachments upon District levees and to assure adequate access for relocations, reconstruction, and routine and emergency inspection, maintenance and repair.
Section II. Definitions.
As used in these Regulations, the following words and phrases shall, unless otherwise provided, have the following definitions:
EXHIBIT 1: Application for Encroachment Permit
Download PDF »
EXHIBIT 2: Encroachment Permit
Download PDF »
- “District”: Reclamation District No. 3, Grand Island.
- “Levee” and “District Levee”: Any embankment or structure designed or used to protect lands from flooding which was constructed by the District, for the purpose of conveying surface runoff or seepage water to the District maintained and operated pumping facilities.
- “Drainage Ditch”: Any ditch or canal designed, constructed and/or maintained by the District for the purpose of conveying surface runoff or seepage water to the District maintained and operated pumping facilities.
- “District Area of Jurisdiction”: The District Levee and the area on the landside and waterside of the District Levee that is required to satisfy the stability, safety and integrity of the District Levee and the operating, maintenance, relocation and reconstruction requirements of the District and the District drainage ditches and canals including a 20-foot wide strip adjacent and along each side of the ditch or canal to provide access for maintenance. (See “District Area of Jurisdiction” map and table incorporated as part of these Regulations as Exhibits 3 and 4, respectively).
- “Person”: Any person, persons, company, partnership, corporation, governmental body or any agent thereof.
- “Camp”: To establish or pitch or attempt to establish or pitch a camp, tent, or temporary shelter or to reside temporarily or otherwise in any camp, tent or temporary shelter.
- “Boat”: Any vessel for transport by water regardless of size, use, construction or method of propulsion.
- “Livestock”: Any horses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, or other useful animal or animals, excepting household pets, of a type kept or raised on a farm or ranch.
- “Owner”: The legal owner, equitable owner, or any person harboring or having custody and control of livestock or an otherwise item of person or real property.
- “Obstructive Vegetation”: Any trees, shrubs, bamboo, briars, vines, or other vegetation which is or could be a hindrance to access or to visual inspection including low grass and lawns.
- “Adjacent”: The area adjoining the District levee within the District Area of Jurisdiction as defined in Section II c) above.
- “Flood Control Works”: The levee, rock revetment or other works to provide flood protection and wave wash protection.
- “Project Levee”: The levees around Grand Island, R.D. No. 3 are part of the Sacramento River Flood Control Project.
- “Encroachments, Improvements and Developments”: These terms are considered interchangeable – See Section 4 for definitions.
Section III. Responsibilities.
- Maintenance of the levees and flood control works are the responsibility of the District under agreement with the State Reclamation Board.
- Maintenance cost of levee and flood control works in District-approved development areas attributable to the development will be the responsibility of the developer and/or the owner.
- Maintenance and maintenance cost of the State Highway No. 160 and County road on levees will be the responsibility of the State and/or Sacramento County.
- Maintenance of drainage ditches and canals indicated on attached Exhibit No. 3 are the responsibility of the District.
Section IV. Encroachments.
No person shall and it shall be unlawful for any person to do any of the following, among others, (all of which are deemed to be encroachments):
- Excavate, grade, level, fill, widen, raise, cut, disturb, rip, or dig upon; or
- place, erect, construct, or maintain any pipeline, fence, parking lot or area, pole, pole line, utility lines, cable, gate, barrier, barricade, conduit, rail, dock, ramp, wharf, landing, building, structure, obstructive vegetation, or works of any kind upon or over; or
- leave, place, store or maintain any lumber, pipe, or any other object or item upon; or
- leave, place, maintain, ride, drive, feed or control livestock upon; or
- park or place any vehicle or other item so as to obstruct traffic or interfere with the District’s maintenance and operation of the levee (any vehicle left standing or one place for 48 hours or more is deemed to be abandoned and will be removed at the owner’s expense); or
- camp on; or
- except from a launching ramp or other facility maintained for that purpose, launch any boat from; any levees or flood control works (including the rock riprap or other wave wash protection thereon) of the District or upon lands owned or maintained by the District or within 20 feet of either side of a drainage ditch or canal maintained by the District, or within the District area of jurisdiction except when expressly permitted to do so by a proper and irrevocable written permit, easement or agreement executed between said person and the District and upon payment to the District of any required fees, expenses, rental, or other compensation thereof.
Section V. Non-Conforming Encroachments.
Any encroachments (as set forth in Section 4 above) upon or over any levees or flood control works of or within the District which encroachments exist at the time of adoption of these Regulations are hereby declared non-conforming with these Regulations but will not be impacted by these Regulations unless modified, damaged or destroyed. No such non-conforming encroachments may be expanded or modified by any person except when expressly permitted to do so by a proper and revocable written permit executed between said person and the District and upon payment to the District of any required fees, expenses, rental or other compensation thereof. If a non-conforming encroachment is damaged or destroyed in whole or in major part, by or from any cause (including fire, flood or wind) and the damage sustained requires repair work costing more than the fair market value of the encroachment prior to the damage, then such non-conforming encroachment shall not be repaired or reconstructed back into a non-conforming condition. These Regulations are not intended to and shall not render legal or proper any encroachment heretofore occurring which was not in accordance with law, including the Regulations of this District, and permits of the State Reclamation Board.
Section VI. Levee Excavation.
When the District has issued a permit which allows any excavation within the District area of jurisdiction, the District nevertheless reserves the right to require all excavation activity to cease, and such excavation to be immediately refilled, when, in the opinion of the District superintendent, anticipated high water conditions within the area of excavation pose a threat to the levee stability or integrity.
Section VII. Encroachment Permit.
All encroachments, improvements, developments or use, existing or proposed, whether on or adjacent to the levees, or the drainage ditches and canals within the District Area of Jurisdiction, are subject to written permit of the District.
Inquiries about proposed encroachments or encroachment permits should be directed to the District office in Walnut Grove.
Encroachment permits issued by the District will use as a guide the “Standards of Encroachments” as approved by the Reclamation Board in conjunction with the Regulations of the District.
Approval and issuance of an encroachment permit shall be by the Board of Trustees or committee of the Board (duly designed by the Board of Trustees of the District) pursuant to these Regulations. Such approval and issuance shall be contingent upon
- the applicant agreeing to assume all liability resulting from the applicant’s encroachment,
- the applicant agreeing to hold the District harmless from additional costs occasioned by such encroachment and necessitated by any future work by the District in the District area of jurisdiction,
- the applicant complying with any other conditions which the Board or committee of the Board in its discretion may from time to time deem appropriate, and
- the application must be filed by the landowner upon whose property the encroachment will be constructed. If there is a tenant in possession, then the tenant and the landowner must jointly execute the application, as well as the acceptance which follows the permit form.
The Board or Committee of the Board may from time to time in its discretion adopt a standard application form or forms for use in administration of the permit procedure provided herein.A permit, when issued, may be subsequently modified by action of the Board or Committee of the Board.
In addition to an encroachment permit issued by the District, the applicant must also obtain approval from other permitting agencies as required by law (such as, State Reclamation Board, Corps of Engineers, Sacramento County, etc.).
The encroachment permit issued by the District should be obtained prior to applying for other agency permits.
Where deemed appropriate in order to give notice to successors, the District may record the permit or a memorandum of the permit.
Section VIII. Application for Encroachment Permit.
Requests for “Application for Encroachment Permit” forms or inquiries about completing the forms should be directed to the District office in Walnut Grove.
Completed applications for an encroachment permit should be submitted to the District at the Walnut Grove office.
Applications for approval of plans for encroachments must be submitted on the Application for Encroachment form provided by the District and must be accompanied by drawings and supporting data that provide sufficient detail to permit a good and proper review of the proposed work. Generally, the following information must be shown on or accompany the application:
- Name, address, and telephone number of applicant, and signature.
- A detailed description of the proposed encroachment, including the intended purpose of the project.
- A location description including the lot number or County Assessor’s Parcel or some other means of identifying the exact location.
- A location map showing the exact position of the proposed encroachment related to existing identifiable landmarks. These include, but are not limited to the following:
- Name of the waterway that the project is on or adjacent to.
- Distance to and the name of local town or community, roads, bridges, or other identifying landmarks.
- North arrow.
- A plan view drawn to scale and which shows the following:
- Location of proposed encroachment with respect to existing facilities and adjacent property lines.
- Location of cross sections or elevation views that are being submitted with the application.
- Direction of flow of stream.
- North arrow.
- Elevation and/or cross section views (drawn to an appropriate scale) which provide the following:
- Location of proposed encroachment with respect to levees, water surface, stream bank, berms and ditches and canals measured both horizontally and vertically.
- Elevations of project features and adjacent levee crown, and design flood plane referenced to bench marks identified by the District.
- Material specification, installation and/or construction details, and proposed construction schedule.
- A copy with the results of any special study if such are required to determine the impact of the proposed project on the particular portion of the levee, stream or river system.
- Names and addresses of owners of adjacent land parcels sharing a length or point of common boundary with the land upon which the proposed project is to be built.
- A list of items which applicant is submitting with the application.
- Engineering design calculations for features requiring structural, safety, stability or other engineering analysis.
- Drawings, specifications and calculations required to support engineered facilities must be prepared, signed and sealed by a California registered professional engineer.
- Flood evacuation plan for the development project in conformance with County Ordinances.
- An application fee of $100 must accompany encroachment applications to cover nominal engineering and administrative costs associated with review and issuance of a permit. Engineering and administrative costs required to review and process an application in excess of $100 will be borne by the applicant with full payment required prior to issuance of the permit.
Section IX. Special Requirements.
The levees around Grand Island, Reclamation District No. 3 are part of the Sacramento River Flood Control Project. Levee standards have been established by the State of California and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including dimensions and freeboard, that will provide acceptable levels of stability and safety. Special conditions may be added by the Board of Trustees of Reclamation District No. 3.
Stable Levee Sections and Foundations
Landside – no permanent or temporary structures, except District approved ramps and stairways shall be allowed within the District area of jurisdiction.The height of any fill or embankment added to the existing ground levels shall be limited to elevations and construction standards (type of material, compaction, time length of loading and consolidation and staging of construction) designated by District.
For fills and embankments District designated tests to confirm stability and safety may be required to be conducted periodically by the applicant.
Waterside – No permanent buildings or structures will be allowed on the waterward slope of the levee.
Unstable Levee Sections and Foundations
Landside – no permanent or temporary structures (including fills and embankments) except District approved ramps and stairways shall be allowed within the District area of jurisdiction.
District designated tests shall be conducted periodically be the applicant on fills and embankments to confirm stability and safety.
Waterside – no permanent buildings or structures will be allowed on the waterward slope of the levee.
Section X. District’s Right of Entry.
The District, by any authorized agent or employee, shall have the right to enter upon any property within the District area of jurisdiction at all reasonable times and places to determine and enforce compliance with these Regulations.
Section XI. Cease and Desist Order.
The District may at any time there is an encroachment in the District Area of Jurisdiction in violation of these regulations, whether or not an encroachment permit has been issued by the District, issue a written order signed by the President of the Board or his official designee to cease and desist such encroachment or issue an order to remove or alter such encroachment.
Section XII. Continuance of Obligation.
Any permit issued pursuant to these regulations shall be deemed an obligation upon the property on which the encroachment is located and shall bind successors of the permittee. The permittee shall, however, remain personally responsible to the District for all the burdens imposed by the permit, unless the permittee has advised any successor as to the existence of the permit and obtained for the benefit of the District an assumption of the obligations of the permit by an acceptance executed by the permittee’s successor.
This permit shall be deemed a continuing obligation of the permittee until released by District. Upon transfer of all or any portion of the land subject to this permit, permittee shall remain responsible to District for compliance with all terms of the permit, unless the purchaser from permittee executes an Acceptance of the permit in the form set forth below:
Acceptance of Permit PDF »
Section XIII. Violation of Regulations.
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of these Regulations shall in addition to suffering from any remedy imposed by law be liable for all costs, expenses, and damages to the District caused by such violations.
In addition to all of the other remedies provided herein, the Board with regard to any violation of these regulations after issuing a cease and desist order or order for removal or alteration and after issuing 72 hours prior written notice of the same by mail or by publication (in accordance with Government Code Section 6061) to the person or persons involved may perform at the cost and expense of the person or persons in violation any corrective work deemed appropriate or necessary by the Board to protect the integrity of the District levee.
Section XIV. Interpretation, Constitutionality, Severability.
- In interpreting and applying the provisions of these Regulations, the requirements contained herein are declared to be minimum requirements for the purposes set forth.
- The provisions of the Regulations, insofar as they are substantially the same as existing statutory provisions relating to the same subject matter, shall be construed as restatement and continuations and not as new enactments.
- If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of these Regulations is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the Regulations. The Board hereby declares that it would have passed these Regulations and every section, subsection, clause and phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared unconstitutional or invalid.
- These Regulations shall upon effect supersede and replace the provisions of the other Regulations and laws of the District in conflict herewith.
EXHIBIT 1: Application for Encroachment Permit
Download PDF »
EXHIBIT 2: Encroachment Permit
Download PDF »
EXHIBIT 3: MAP
Download Original Image »
EXHIBIT 4: TABLE
DIMENSIONS OF DISTRICT AREA OF JURISDICTION
EXHIBIT 4: TABLE
DIMENSIONS OF DISTRICT AREA OF JURISDICTION
| Stream | Levee Station | Distance | |
| Landside (feet) | Waterside (feet) | ||
| Steamboat Slough | 0+00-580+00 | 150 | 75 |
| Cross Levee | 580+00-603+55 | 100 | 100 |
| Sacramento River | 0+00-915+45 | 150 | 75 |