In the Sacramento and San Joaquin regions, more than a thousand miles of levees protect farms and communities, but these aging structures are vulnerable to floods and earthquakes. When there is a lot of water coming down the rivers, a system of weirs can take pressure off the levees by moving water into bypasses. The Army Corps of Engineers, along with state and local partners, is now working to nearly double the size of the Sacramento weir in West Sacramento to improve flood management in the region.

Other flood protection news:

• KCRA (Sacramento, Calif.): California lawmakers seek flood protection funding amid Hurricane Katrina anniversary