… In the Sacramento River basin, the reconnected floodplain of the Yolo Bypass is intentionally inundated during large floods, subtracting more than 80% of the volume of floodwaters from the Sacramento River as it flows through its namesake state capital (see image below as well as the top of the article). This intentional flooding in the Bypass is the single most important strategy for keeping the people of Sacramento—along with other communities and surrounding farmland—safe from flood damages. What can you call that massive volume of water spreading harmlessly across the Yolo Bypass but a “good flood” that is preventing “bad floods” from threatening Sacramento?
-Written by Jeff Opperman, global freshwater lead scientist for World Wildlife Fund.

Other flood news:

• The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.): Do Californians need flood insurance? Few homeowners have it