We are pleased to share that ENGEO was published in the Civil & Structural Engineer Media article “California and Atmospheric Rivers”! Our very own Mark Gilbert, PE, GE, was featured in the article and shared his thoughts on the impacts of successive atmospheric rivers that have deluged California in early 2023.
Although the weather that Californians witnessed is not unprecedented, communities and infrastructure built on hillside slopes, such as in the San Francisco Bay Area, were heavily impacted by the large amounts of rain. Specifically, shallow earth movements occurred as a result of heavily saturated soil. Once the soil starts moving downhill, it can put property and lives at risk.
“These sorts of storms result in a lot of careful monitoring for levee-maintaining agencies, reclamation districts, and flood control agencies. The result of this careful monitoring, according to Gilbert, is a series of proactive steps.”
While monitoring and preemptive planning helped mitigate serious damage from recent flooding, Gilbert believes that there is more work to be done when it comes to preparing for the future. In addition to bolstering the permanent flood control infrastructure already in place, implementing flexible and rapidly deployed protective measures offers further means for mitigating serious flood damage.
ENGEO has worked with over two dozen entities to provide flood mitigation and currently manages 14 Geologic Hazard Abatement Districts (GHAD) within the state. Just last year, ENGEO designed and shepherded the first GHAD focused on flood-risk reduction. The GHAD will assist in protecting the City of Isleton against flood hazards and provide resilient flood damage relief.
