$3 Million for West Sacramento Flood Control

Woodland Daily Democrat

Acting Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an omnibus spending bill that will provide continued funding for governmental programs through the end of fiscal year 2009.

In this bill, Congressman Mike Thompson, D-1st District, secured $3 million for the West Sacramento Flood Control Project.

"We need to rebuild our country and our economy, and investing in infrastructure projects that keep us safe from floods is one of the smartest investments that we can make," said Thompson. "The 44,000 residents of West Sacramento don't need to be told the importance of flood control projects. And building these levees will create many good paying jobs in our community."

The Sacramento urban area is widely recognized as being the most vulnerable to flooding of any urbanized area in the country with the exception of New Orleans. Five years ago, the Army Corps of Engineers planned, designed and constructed a project to provide the city flood protection. However, certain areas of the project have failed to perform during winter conditions and must be improved.

In addition to this funding, Thompson got $4.6 billion in emergency funding for the Army Corps of Engineers that was included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law by President Obama last week.