Senate Appropriations Committee Approves over $450 million for California Water Projects, Including $30 Million for CALFED

Senate Appropriations Committee Approves
over $450 million for California Water Projects, Including $30 Million for CALFED
July 24, 2002

Washington, DC - The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee today approved over $450 million to improve California water resources, including $30 million for CALFED projects, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced. CALFED is a joint State-Federal partnership to provide for California's future water needs and the environmental restoration of the Bay-Delta.

"I believe the energy crisis in California is a forerunner of what could happen with water if we fail to plan ahead," Senator Feinstein said. "The funding included within this appropriations bill, including the $30 million for CALFED-related projects, is an important step forward in meeting California's water needs. I want to thank Senator Robert Byrd, Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and Senator Harry Reid, chairman of the Energy and Water Subcommittee for providing this funding."

"California, however, needs much more funding to improve its water supply. That is why it is so critical that the Senate approves legislation that Senator Boxer and I have introduced to authorize $1.6 billion to fully fund the federal portion of the CALFED program for the next three years."

Funding for CALFED projects includes:

$15 million for the Environmental Water Account;
$2.5 million for planning and oversight of the Delta Division;
$3 million to evaluate potential of raising Shasta Dam;
$2.25 million for planning associated with enlarging Los Vaqueros reservoir
$1.75 to continue feasibility study for storage in the Upper San Joaquin Watershed;
$500,000 to continue site planning activities as agree to in the Sites MOU; and
$5 million to construct the Tracy Test Fish Facility.

In addition to the funding for CALFED, the FY '03 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill includes over $185 million for Bureau of Reclamation projects, $164 million for Army Corps of Engineers construction projects, $91 million for Army Corps operations and maintenance projects, almost $19 million for Army Corps preliminary study and design projects, and includes an increase of $23 million for environmental clean up at the Lawrence Livermore Lab.

The Army Corps of Engineers projects funded in the bill include:

Construction Projects

$5 million for construction of the 50 foot dredging project for the Port of Oakland;
$8 million for Napa Flood Plain Construction;
$10.3 million for construction to deepen Channel Port of Los Angeles;
$10.7 for construction of the Petaluma Flood Control Channel;
$5 million for Hamilton Wetlands Restoration;
$32 million for improvements to protect development along Santa Ana River;
$7 million for flood control projects along South Sacramento Streams;
$7 million for the Harbor/South Bay Recycling project to develop up to 48,000 acre-feet of recycled water for use in the Los Angeles Area;
$9 million for construction of Guadalupe River Project in San Jose;
$11 million to raise the spillway at Terminus Dam/Lake Kaweah, increasing its reservoir storage capacity by 30 percent;
$400,000 for continued construction of the Sacramento Deepwater Ship Channel;
$600,000 to complete the General Reevaluation Report for the Imperial Beach-Silver Strand Beach restoration project; and
$3 million for wetlands development in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Operations and Maintenance

$4 million for maintenance costs for dredging the Suisan Bay Channel;
$4.9 million for Humboldt Bay;
$1.125 million for Moss Landing Harbor; and
$1 million for Petaluma River.

Preliminary Study and Design

$1 million for Riverside County Special Area Management Plan;
$500,000 for San Diego County Special Area Management Plan;
$500,000 for Solano/Encinitas Beach Restoration;
$398,000 for San Clemente Shore Protection;
$500,000 for Coast of California Storm/Tide Study;
$2.6 million for the American River Watershed; and
$1.5 million for the Lake Tahoe Basin.

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