Yuba Water Agency and the University of California have completed two years of pilot research into technologies designed to improve levee monitoring in Yuba County, California.
The research, supported by a $360,000 grant awarded by Yuba Water in 2024, has involved deploying sensors and monitoring technologies across 18 sites along the Feather and Bear rivers and Dry Creek in southern Yuba County.
Researchers from the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS) have been carrying out the work. CITRIS draws on expertise from several University of California campuses, including UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Merced and UC Santa Cruz.
The monitoring sites are located within Reclamation Districts 784 and 2103, which provide flood risk reduction for Linda, Olivehurst, Plumas Lake and Wheatland, as well as surrounding commercial and agricultural areas.
“Despite the devastating flooding we experienced in 1986 and 1997, today Yuba County has some of the most modern urban levees in the state thanks to hundreds of millions of dollars in local, state and federal investments,” said Sami Nall, Yuba Water’s flood risk manager. “But we want to feel the same confidence in the integrity of the system in 25, 30 or even 50 years from now. Protecting that investment means continuing to monitor the health of our levees, using the best tools available and with proactive maintenance. That’s exactly what this research is helping us do.”
In an update to Yuba Water’s Board of Directors, CITRIS researchers outlined how drones equipped with LiDAR and other sensors have been used to produce detailed 3D models of levees. Ground-based sensors and surveys were then used to verify information gathered from the aerial surveys.
The research is intended to help levee managers monitor longer sections of infrastructure more efficiently and provide additional data to support inspections and maintenance.
One application involves identifying potential animal burrows, which can weaken levees. Researchers used aerial data to identify areas containing possible clusters of burrows, allowing maintenance teams to target locations for closer inspection and repair.
The technology is also being investigated as a way of identifying possible hidden seepage. Researchers combined aerial and subsurface information to flag areas that could require further investigation before visible signs of deterioration develop.
Data gathered through the project can also be used to create digital twins of sections of the levee system. These models can be updated as conditions change and could help managers assess how levees may respond to future storms and high-water events and inform longer-term maintenance decisions.
“Levees are complex systems that change,” Nall said. “The more information we have about their condition, the better equipped we are to maintain them and help protect the communities that depend on them for years to come.”
Yuba Water does not own or maintain Yuba County’s levees but works with local levee and reclamation districts, providing coordination and financial support for monitoring and maintenance.
“We look at this as an additional tool to enhance what is already a very robust maintenance program,” said Patrick Meagher, general manager of Reclamation District 784. “We’re not going to stop walking the levees because we have technology. But this is another way to ensure the levees stay safe, secure and structurally sound.”
Following the pilot, Yuba Water board members have asked staff to develop recommendations on how the technology could be expanded to other levees in Yuba County. “Anything that gives us a little more confidence and security in our levee system is really a great benefit,” said Renick House, Yuba Water board director and Yuba County supervisor for District 2. “Having grown up in Arboga, which suffered significant flooding in 1997, there is no question that having this information at our fingertips is invaluable.”
