Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
May 17, 2007
1. Top Items
Senate water bill holds $2.1b for state; Legislation reinforces levee-improvement program -
Boxer gives
Senate water bill holds $2.1b for state; Legislation reinforces levee-improvement program
By Michael Doyle, staff writer
With a $14 billion price tag, the water bill already has drawn grumblings from a budget-conscious White House. But with pent-up political demand and loads of local projects, the 426-page bill also enjoys considerable momentum on Capitol Hill.
"It is a wonderful winner for everybody," Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer said this week. Boxer chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, giving her special sway in steering funds toward parochial projects.
The bill's funding includes $3 million for the
On the
"Besides the obvious environmental benefits, a healthy trout population is a valuable recreational resource," David Orth, general manager of the Kings River Conservation District, contended in a recent letter to lawmakers.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been more skeptical at times. At one point, as Orth put it, the corps even made the "assertion that the trout fishery and other
The Senate bill and its House counterpart nonetheless provide the $20 million for
The bill further dramatically reinforces a levee-improvement program originally passed in 2004. As part of that year's so-called Cal-Fed bill, Congress authorized $90 million for levee improvements.
About 1,100 miles of levees snake through the Delta, the water-rich region west of
The Senate's bill, expected to pass by Wednesday night, must be reconciled with a House version. It has been seven years since Congress last finished a nationwide water resources bill.
"Seven years also means that there are a lot of projects in this bill," Boxer said. "That is the cost of waiting so long to act."
But citing some
"In a time when fiscal restraint is much needed, the additional spending ... for local wastewater and drinking water infrastructure projects is unacceptable," the White House's Office of Management and Budget contended.
In particular, the White House urged Boxer to eliminate a host of waste-water and drinking-water projects serving regions including
"[They] would cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and divert funds from meritorious projects," the White House asserted.
President Bush has never vetoed a spending or project-authorization bill, and the 394-25 margin by which the House already passed its own version of the bill showed the president may retain little leverage. #
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/48243.html
Boxer gives
San Francisco Chronicle – 5/17/07
By Edward Epstein, staff writer
(05-17) 04:00 PDT Washington -- Sen. Barbara Boxer of California is giving her constituents a textbook example of the power a single senior senator can wield, using her new post chairing the Environment and Public Works Committee to add generously to the amount of money the state stands to get for water and flood control projects.
In all,
For
By the time the bill, the first such water program legislation to get this far in Congress in seven years, was wrapped up in Boxer's committee, hundreds of millions of dollars for specific California projects had been added. What's more, many other projects in the state were added to the bill without specific funding totals, making them eligible for future appropriations. And the bill called for federal studies of several other potential water projects.
"We have a lot of important projects in here because we have so many needs," said Boxer, who has served on the committee in the minority and the majority since coming to the Senate in 1993. She became chairwoman after Democrats took control of Congress in November.
"We are definitely in the mix," added Boxer, who said
To veteran Washington observers,
"The power of the gavel is not to be discounted," said Tim Ransdell, executive director of the California Institute for Federal Policy Research. "It's not an automatic blank check but it empowers a member to ensure that the rights of their home state are represented effectively."
Such legendary senators as Democrat Robert Byrd of
But Ransdell said that Boxer and
"They have many other policy priorities," he said. "But it's rarely a bad idea to take care of your constituents."
"As she has increased in seniority, she has amassed more projects under the California Christmas tree," Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a taxpayers' watchdog group, said of Boxer. "She hasn't been shy about bringing home the bacon for
The money designated for projects in the bill will have to be followed by actual appropriations legislation to pay for the projects.
Full funding of all the water projects in the bill is iffy, given intense competition for federal dollars. But
The biggest reason for
The Army Corps of Engineers ranks
Another major item in the long list of projects is $106 million to pay for levee work under the Cal-Fed program in the Sacramento River-San Joaquin River Delta. In
In
In addition, the bill describes projects for which no price tag is yet available.
In the House-passed version of the water bill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi inserted at the request of the
Pelosi's action, which she cleared with House ethics officials before acting, drew fire from House Republicans who charged that the speaker was violating her own new ethics rules because Pelosi's husband owns property within a few miles of the city waterfront. Conceivably, he could financially benefit from the port repairs, they said, a charge Pelosi's staff said is far-fetched.
The Senate bill removes the $25 million price tag but still includes language to help the port make repairs. The differences will have to be reconciled between the House and Senate bills.
Among other items without a price tag in Boxer's bill is an instruction to the Army Corps of Engineers to annually dredge the Redwood City Navigation Channel, study a flood control project in St. Helena in
Ellis estimated the bill's cost could rise to $14.9 billion because of the costs that aren't spelled out. The White House, while stopping short of a veto threat, has criticized the House and Senate bills as too costly.
Money for
Here are some major provisions for
-- Raising Folsom Dam for Sacramento-area flood control. Federal share, $444 million; other agencies, $139 million.
-- Bel Marin Keys restoration at Hamilton Army Airfield. Federal cost $166 million; nonfederal $55.5 million.
-- Llagas Creek flood work in
Among items in the bill without a price tag:
-- Flood control project review in St. Helena in Napa County, South San Francisco bay shoreline flood and salt ponds restoration study, study of San Pablo Bay watershed and a report on whether federal maintenance of the Larkspur Ferry Channel is appropriate. #
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/05/17/MNG4VPSA611.DTL
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