Price of water projects elicits White House ire

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, May 17, 2007

WASHINGTON -- San Joaquin Valley fish, wildlife and levees could benefit from a massive water projects bill now moving toward Senate passage.

With a $14 billion price tag, the water bill already has drawn grumblings from a budget-conscious White House. But with pent-up political demand and loads of local projects, the 426-page bill also enjoys considerable momentum on Capitol Hill.

"It is a wonderful winner for everybody," Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer said this week.

Boxer chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, giving her special sway in steering funds toward parochial projects. California's share of the water bill totals some $2.1 billion, more than any other state.

The bill's funding includes $3 million for the Port of Stockton, a $100million reinforcement for levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and $20 million for improving trout habitat below Pine Flat Dam in Fresno County.

On the Kings River, the money is supposed to aid long-running efforts to restore habitat for trout and other species living below Pine Flat. Past efforts have included controlling the temperature of the water being released.

"Besides the obvious environmental benefits, a healthy trout population is a valuable recreational resource," David Orth, general manager of the Kings River Conservation District, contended in a recent letter to lawmakers.

The Army Corps of Engineers has been more skeptical at times. At one point, as Orth put it, the corps even made the "assertion that the trout fishery and other Kings River aquatic resources are not worthy of enhancement."

The Senate bill and its House counterpart provide the $20million for Kings River work if the secretary of the Army -- as overseer of the Corps of Engineers -- determines the fishery improvement to be "feasible."

The bill further dramatically reinforces a levee-improvement program originally passed in 2004. As part of that year's so-called Cal-Fed bill, Congress authorized $90 million for levee improvements.

Some 1,100 miles of levees snake through the Delta, the water- rich region west of Stockton. Only about half of the levees meet modern standards, potentially putting at risk the state's crucial water supplies. The Senate bill adds $100 million in new funds for levee improvements, on top of the earlier $90 million.

The Senate's bill, expected to pass by Wednesday night, must be reconciled with a House version. It's been seven years since Congress last finished a nationwide water resources bill.

"Seven years also means that there are a lot of projects in this bill," Boxer said. "That is the cost of waiting so long to act."

But citing some San Joaquin Valley projects in particular, White House officials called for more pruning.

"In a time when fiscal restraint is much needed, the additional spending ... for local wastewater and drinking water infrastructure projects is unacceptable," the White House's Office of Management and Budget contended

In particular, the White House urged Boxer to eliminate a host of wastewater and drinking water projects serving regions including Calaveras County, Amador County and Stockton's Rough and Ready Island, among many other locations.

"(They) would cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and divert funds from meritorious projects," the White House asserted.

Bush has never vetoed a spending or project authorization bill, and the 394-25 margin by which the House already passed its own version of the bill showed the president may retain little leverage.

(Contact Michael Doyle at mdoyle(at)mcclatchydc.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps-McClatchy Western Service.)