Comparison of the parameters with design standards presented a
difficulty due to the lack of specific guidance from the federal government
on levee design considerations. Furthermore, there are no procedural
criteria that would be applicable in making a finding that
the urban level of flood protection exits for an area (DWR, 2010).
Floodplain development projects in Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta
are constrained by FEMA guidelines and administered by the Corps
of Engineers. The Sacramento–San Joaquin Valley regulation is currently
using interim analytical and procedural criteria to follow in
meeting the requirements to find that levees and floodwalls provide
protection against a flood with an annual average recurrence interval
of 200 years (0.5% occurrence probability). In this paper, the most recent
one of those considered in the interim criteria was selected
(USACE, 2008).