Delegation Asks $100 Million for Flood Control : Appropriation: GOP contingent pushing Santa Ana River work given sympathetic reception by congressional panel.

Orange County officials and congressmen made their annual pilgrimage to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to appeal for $100 million to continue work on the $1.5-billion Santa Ana River Flood Control Project.

And although times are tough, members of the House appropriations subcommittee on energy and water development gave every indication that the project will proceed on schedule.

Rep. Vic Fazio (D-West Sacramento), a senior member of the appropriations panel, noted that officials from his area are planning to bring a major flood control proposal before Congress, probably next year.

“Certainly our commitment to Orange County remains in place,” Fazio told members of the Orange County congressional delegation, known in Washington for their fiscal conservatism. “We’re just begging here for a moment for your support when we can find a way to help Sacramento avoid this kind of flood as well.”

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) thanked Fazio, and then said he understood.

In addition to Rohrabacher, Reps. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) and Jay Kim (R-Diamond Bar), who represents Yorba Linda, made a pitch for the project.

Rep. Ron Packard (R-Oceanside), who represents South County, became a member of the powerful Appropriations Committee this year, and appeared at the hearing to voice his support for the program.

The project, for which Congress already has appropriated more than $220 million, calls for major improvements along 26 miles of Santa Ana River flood channel in Orange County, construction of the Seven Oaks Dam in San Bernardino County and raising the Prado Dam in Riverside County.

Also appearing before the subcommittee were Harriett M. Wieder, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, and George Osborne, executive director of the Santa Ana River Flood Control Agency.

Wieder told subcommittee members that Orange County already has spent $125 million of county money to acquire property near the Prado and future Seven Oaks dams, lengthen or replace bridges over the river and relocate flood channel outlets at the river’s mouth.

“By these actions, we demonstrate our commitment to the successful and timely completion of the project,” Wieder said.