The Secondary Flood Control Agency (SAFEKA) Board of Directors on Oct. 16 was briefed on potential federal delays to levee- and dam-related reviews amid a stalled congressional budget process, heard that the governor signed Senate Bill 639 extending certification deadlines to 2030, and received an update that the Sweetie Ranch pump station is out of the ground and the adjacent levee is being backfilled.

Executive Director Jason Campbell said the federal fiscal year budget remained unresolved and that “we are in shutdown mode,” adding that the Bureau of Reclamation has staff who perform reviews that could be furloughed and that those furloughs could affect coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Folsom Dam. “Most everything else is continuing as needed,” Campbell said, but he urged the board to stay ready to assist the Corps if requested.

The briefing also noted a state-level development: “we do have an extension to 2030 for certification of the ULOP or level of protection for our levee systems,” Campbell said, referring to the recently signed Senate Bill 639. He said SAFEKA will continue to provide required certifications and “adequate progress” findings as they become available.

On local project work, Campbell reported that the Sweetie Ranch pump station is making progress: the new pump structure is “finally out of the ground and the levee is being backfilled and we're making great progress,” he said.

The board conducted routine consent business at the start of the meeting. Staff recommended dropping agenda item 4; the board took a motion and voice vote to drop item 4. The board then approved the remaining consent matters — items 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 — on a subsequent voice vote. The motions were handled by voice; the transcript records only affirmative “Aye” responses and does not record individual vote counts or named movers.

Campbell also said SAFEKA had postponed planned Washington, D.C., meetings and would reschedule depending on how the federal budget process resolves, hoping to meet before the Thanksgiving congressional recess. He noted work toward the agency's fiscal year 2027 budget planning will continue, but that FY27 steps are contingent on completing FY26 appropriations.

No members of the public requested to speak during the general public comment period, and no substantive public comments were recorded on the items discussed.

The briefing combined situational updates about federal coordination risks, a statutory deadline extension under state law, and an operational construction update for the agency's local pump-station project.