Composite Risk Assessment for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta Levee System

Abstract

AbstractThe objectives of this project were to analyze available Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California, levee risk information in a Composite Risk Management matrix and examine the results for management decision support. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) guidance documents define risk as the “probability and severity of loss linked to hazards” and prescribe a composite risk assessment method. The Delta Risk Management Strategy performed for a group of state and federal partners provided analyses of the relative probability of hazards and severity of risks in the Delta and provide the information needed for a risk analysis compliant with USACE requirements. Composite Risk assessment provides rank-ordered lists of the highest risk zones–those with the greatest probability of failure combined with the most severe consequences–for several hundred protected areas in the Delta. Although uncertainties in the absolute magnitude of the results make them most useful for comparisons, the actual values of the ...