Posted on 04/06/2006 8:06:46 PM PDT by calcowgirl
WASHINGTON - Key Republican lawmakers said Thursday that building a dam on the American River at Auburn is the only way to protect Sacramento against catastrophic flooding that might occur once every 500 years.
But the head of the California Department of Water Resources cautioned against losing focus on flood-control projects now underway that are meant to give 200-year protection to the region.
Sacramento is now protected only at the 100-year level--the lowest of any large urban area in the nation.
"Our focus right now in the state is that we need to be sure we get these improvements and not get distracted by the next debate over Auburn Dam," Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow testified at a hearing of the House Resources Committee's subcommittee on energy and water.
"The debate in the past has actually delayed investment in flood improvements in the region," Snow said.
Before Snow spoke, committee chairman Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, and subcommittee chairman Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, both spoke in favor of an Auburn Dam, underscoring growing congressional interest in reviving the controversial project years after it seemed to be abandoned for good.
"I don't think anybody can come to an answer that gives us 500-year flood protection for the city of Sacramento without the Auburn Dam," Pombo said. "That's just the cold hard reality that's in front of us right now."
The Auburn Dam north of Sacramento was long championed by Rep. John Doolittle, R-Rocklin, until he struck a 2003 deal with then-Rep. Bob Matsui, D-Sacramento, to abandon it in favor of a package of improvements to the 50-year-old Folsom Dam on the American River south of Auburn.
State officials are now working to restore some levees in the area and in combination with the Folsom improvements, 200-year flood protection is supposed to be achieved.
But cost overruns at Folsom combined with the renewed focus on flood protection in the wake of Hurricane Katrina appear to have significantly revived congressional interest in the Auburn Dam.
Doolittle also claims new support from Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, and Rep. David Hobson, R-Ohio, who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that controls dollars for energy and water projects.
Hobson favors building a more limited "dry dam" that would just come into use in case of potential flooding, while Pombo favors a "multipurpose" dam that could also be used for water storage and energy generation.
Doolittle has supported a multipurpose dam in the past but now says he'll support a dry dam that could be expanded into a multipurpose facility.
He got lawmakers to appropriate $1 million for a Bureau of Reclamation study on Auburn that's now underway and hopes to continue spending on the project.
In addition to skepticism from the administration of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the renewed attention to Auburn is sour news to Democrats who believe the focus should stay firmly on other repairs now underway.
"I think we all agree that this controversial proposal is no substitute for action now to protect Sacramento from a tragic flood," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said in a statement Thursday, adding she remained concerned about building a major dam in an earthquake-prone area.
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, said it would take three or four decades to get anything done at Auburn.
"What is achievable now, in 11 years, is going to be Folsom," she said.
"My district is the most impacted, I know the work we can do at Folsom ... People who don't live in Sacramento ought not to be commenting on something like this," Matsui said.
I think they heard ya, SW.
They won't be satisfied until they've totally wrecked the state of California.
Notice how politically correct he must phrase this... The same way we got two actual ADDITIONAL freeway lanes added to US Hwy 50 by making them "HOV," or "Diamond Lanes" first, then eventually multi-purpose lanes in the future!
They say politicians are "slick" but I tell ya, they are forced to be with all the negativity that permeates to whole political system these days!!! It's mind boggling!!!
That dippy Doris Matsui thinks this ONLY effects her constituents and she's absolutely NUTS! This could solve a problem that could cripple way more of this nation than New Orleans ever could hope to!!!
Her district, the Capitol of CA sits directly under the steepest and fastest moving watershed in the United States!!! This whole region from Fresno to Redding and from Reno to San Franpsycho would be terribly harmed, both economically, and ecologically for a couple of decades!!!
But because some pissants renting rafting trips on the fork of the American that would NOT be dammed have such incestuous ties to the Democratic Party and just hate the thought of another dam... Well you know the rest!!!
You know this just might be the issue I push on my DC trip. Any suggestions for who I should go talk to?
Dams are cool. Best source of energy on the planet, too, imho. If they are built right, they not only last forever, but don't have too much environmental impact. Of course, since this is California, some anti-dam environut will probably find some rare species of endangered snail that needs to be protected and that will shut the whole project down for another 20 years.
Reservoirs are actually solar powered time machines that provide super clean power on demand faster than any other form of energy through gravity! Plus, it floats an entire whitewater rafting industry through Labor Day when said rivers used to dry up. The loss of erosion is a cleaning of the environment to all the EnvironMentalists as it removes the "pollution" of turbidity! Now you don't wanna be supportin "pollution," now do ya?
Yeah... Don't preach to the choir... talk to our two stupid Senators, for starters, then others who are hanging on the edge in the CA delagation in the House. Wally Herger has alway been with it, as has Jerry Lewis. Who took Doug Ose's place? He probably could use a booster shot!
Just curious how you meant that...
"The loss of erosion is a cleaning of the environment to all the EnvironMentalists as it removes the "pollution" of turbidity! "
I'm having a hard time understanding what this means, if you could clarify, i could answer. And I was under the impression that hydrogenation is not actually an effective power source, evident in the unperforated use, especially in desert climates. Correct me if I'm wrong, though.
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