Copious showers are good for flowers but not for the city’s infrastructure.

The city council voted last week to extend a local state of emergency to allow engineers to finish assessing damages caused by rains in December, January and February. Declaring a local state of emergency makes the city eligible to collect money from the federal government and the state to make needed repairs.

Three projects are currently being evaluated:

•The Anderson water tank, located off Sycamore Drive, northwest of the Simi Valley Hospital. Part of the hillside below the tank slipped during February’s rainstorms, causing soil near the base of the tank to erode.

The hillside has been stabilized and the water in the tank lowered to the minimum level needed for firefighting. Engineers are expected to complete an evaluation of the soil this week. The city will then decide how much additional work is necessary.

"There’s no immediate danger of the tank falling or slipping," said Ron Fuchiwaki, assistant director of public works. "We want to make sure that whatever measures are taken, (this) will not happen again."

•After the torrential rains, a 27-inch sewer line below Sinaloa Road near Los Angeles Avenue failed in March. It likely was caused by shifts in the level of groundwater, according to a city report. Work crews made initial repairs, but more extensive work is needed to ensure a sewage leak doesn’t occur, Fuchiwaki said. Workers must dig about 20 feet below the street to make the repairs.

•Engineers are testing the soil along Tapo Canyon Road north of Presidio Drive to see if it’s stable. The east and west shoulders of the main thoroughfare were eroded during the February rainstorms. After the soil evaluation is complete, likely this week, the city will devise a repair plan.

Dan Jordan, budget officer for Simi Valley, said the city has applied for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the repair work. FEMA is expected to reimburse the city for up to 75 percent of the money it will spend on repairing the damage and the state will reimburse about 10 percent. The city will absorb the rest.

In order to begin repairs expediently, work on projects deemed threats to public safety and eligible for FEMA funds aren’t required to go through the lengthy formal construction bidding process.

Simi Valley has been under a local state of emergency since February.