The Reclamation District No. 17 (RD17) Phase 3 Levee Seepage Repair Project (LSRP) is the final phase of a $70 million levee improvement project along portions of the 19-mile RD17 federal project levee system. The project reduces the risk of flooding throughout the District service area which provides flood protection for approximately 19,600 acres of mixed-use lands with a population estimated at approximately 43,000 people and an estimated $5 billion in damageable property throughout the communities of Weston Ranch, French Camp, Lathrop, and Manteca. The LSRP repaired seepage deficiencies where needed to meet United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) seepage criteria, thereby increasing the levee’s resistance to under and through seepage.

The $55 million, Phase 3 LSRP improvements included construction of drained seepage berms designed to address under seepage, installation of chimney drains designed to address through seepage, installation of deep levee cutoff walls designed to address both under and through seepage, and modification of levee slopes and crown widths where needed to achieve levee geometry requirements. RD17 also constructed a setback levee to serve the combined purposes of improving flood risk reduction infrastructure, reducing water surface elevations through expansion of the floodway, and providing habitat restoration/enhancement opportunities without causing adverse hydraulic impacts.