Money Approved to Continue Flood Control Project : Funding: House provides $82 million to prevent disaster along the Santa Ana River from Anaheim to the ocean.

The House of Representatives approved legislation Tuesday that provides $82 million to continue construction of the Santa Ana River flood control project, designed to avert a disaster that experts say could wipe out thousands of acres from Anaheim to the Pacific.

“Nothing so directly affects the long-term stability of Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Anaheim and all the people in Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties than the completion of this flood control project,” said Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove).

The $1.4-billion project--the largest endeavor of its kind in the nation--has been about 25 years in the making. Construction began in 1991 and is expected to take at least another eight years to complete. Congress has been funding it in stages.

Proponents say the project is Orange County’s best protection against the next 100-year flood--a flood of such magnitude that it is expected to occur only once every 100 years. Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) said that is a “deceptively reassuring name, since it could occur at any time.”

“Without this project, such a flood would, without warning, wipe out 110,000 acres from Anaheim to the Pacific Ocean, affecting 2.5 million people and almost certainly killing thousands,” Cox said.

The legislation also provides $133,000 to study the erosion of the Huntington Beach bluffs.