Waterway Projects Would Benefit From $20-Billion Bill

The House is scheduled to vote next week on a spending package that includes more than $60 million for water projects in and around Orange County.

The $20-billion Energy and Water Development appropriations bill includes a number of local waterway-improvement projects to be carried out by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The largest local allocation was $52.9 million for the Santa Ana River Mainstem project. The funds are part of an ongoing $1.4-billion flood prevention effort that includes building the Seven Oaks Dam northeast of Highland, widening the Santa Ana River through Orange County and raising the height of Prado Dam, just west of Corona. It is intended to provide flood protection for Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.

Appropriations Committee member Rep. Ron Packard (R-Oceanside) also inserted $6 million to dredge the Port of Long Beach and $1.27 million for a similar project in Newport Bay Harbor.

The bill, which goes before the full House, sets budgets for the Army Corps of Engineers’ civilian projects, for the Department of Interior’s bureau of reclamation, much of the Department of Energy and other agencies.

It includes $2.76 million for maintenance of Army Corps of Engineers projects in the Santa Ana River Basin. It also allocates $315,000 for flood control studies along the San Juan and Aliso Creeks in Orange County, and $378,000 for maintenance of the Prado Basin water supply.

The bill allocates $769,000 to the Southern California Comprehensive Water Reuse project, a federal study of methods to promote recycling of sewage and desalination of seawater. It also includes $200,000 for Southern California Aquatic Resources.

The water resources bill is set for a vote on Tuesday.