Napa flood project gets nearly $1 million boost

Napa Valley Register

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will contribute $900,000 to the Napa flood project over and above whatever Congress ends up allocating for 2008-09, Rep. Mike Thompson, D- St. Helena, said Friday.

The $900,000 secured by Thompson will be combined with a likely congressional allocation of $11 million to launch the first phase of Napa Valley Wine Train track relocation, a multi-year project expected to cost $55 million.

Given the shortage of federal money in recent years, the extra $900,000 obtained by Thompson is “quite a coup,” said Heather Stanton, the local project manager.

The money is being redirected from another of the Corps of Engineers dozens of projects around the country.

The corps and local officials have been asking for at least $15 million annually to keep the Napa flood project from falling further behind schedule. A lobbying trip to Washington is scheduled for later this month.

The Corps of Engineers said it needed $22.8 million for 2008-09, mostly for railroad work. The final federal allocation is likely to be only half that.

While federal funding for 2008-09 isn't what the corps needs, Congress is on track to approve substantially more than the $7.4 million proposed by President Bush, Thompson said in a press release.

Besides advocating for greater Congressional funding, Thompson said he would “keep looking for every bit of money to help move the Napa River project along.”

The corps is negotiating to award a multi-year contract this month for the railroad work, which will involve moving and elevating tracks between Third Street and the Soscol Avenue crossing to the north and the construction of two bridges: a replacement bridge over the river and a span over the planned flood bypass.

This work will eliminate the railroad bed and the river bridge as flood impediments.

The corps may have about $17 million for the first phase of the railroad contract, with the rest of the estimated $55 million coming in future congressional allocations.

Only after the railroad work is finished will the corps turn its attention to flood protection along Napa Creek and the digging of the bypass channel.

The New Year's Eve flood of 2005 caused an estimated $115 million in damages along the creek and river. The damage would have been greater but for the flood work that has already been completed, Thompson said.