Construction has officially begun on a $600 million dollar project to rebuild the troubled Pajaro River levee system, nearly 60 years after Congress first identified the need. … [The project] includes more than 10 miles of new and refurbished levees designed to provide 100-year flood protection to communities along the Pajaro River watershed including Pajaro and Watsonville. Officials have estimated that the current system provides only 8-year protection. … Congress had already approved $149 million in initial funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Following the 2023 flood, the state legislature agreed to fund not only the state portion of the project, but the local share as well … Even so, the reconstruction—and the improved flood protection—are still far from reality.