How the City Prepares for Flooding

The City of Sacramento stands ready to face a flooding emergency. City staff and the Sacramento Fire and Police Departments have worked closely together to create tools and plans to prepare for emergencies within our City.

The Department of Utilities is proud to play a role in this process. As the floodplain managers for the City, we work closely with SAFCA and others to monitor and improve our levees. Some of the tools that we use to help us and other City agencies respond to potential flooding hazards include maps, the California Data Exchange Center (CDEC) , and our Comprehensive Flood Management Plan. The City also utilizes the Automated Local Evaluation in Real Time (ALERT) system. ALERT was created by the National Weather Service to signal us about possible flooding. ALERT provides us with continuous and automatic reports from river levels and rainfall gauges to help us detect impending high water levels.

Utilities staff works year-round to ensure that our drainage system works efficiently. Our staff inspects and monitors floodgates, maintains drainage canals and basins, and cleans the drainage system regularly. Our staff also removes leaves and debris from gutters to ensure that water can quickly flow into the drainage system. In an emergency, Utilities staff, along with other City staff will help to install floodgates, limit the spread of flooding, and bring water levels down quickly to help limit damages.

2017 Comprehensive Flood Management Plan (CFMP) (PDF)

2023 Repetitive Loss Area Analysis (Appendix D to 2017 CFMP) (PDF)

2016 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan

Floodplain Maps

Evacuation Maps