Congresswoman Matsui & Senator Feinstein Tour Natomas Levees

Press Release

Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento) and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) toured the Natomas levees and highlighted their continued support for the Natomas Levee Improvement Project (NLIP). Both Congresswoman Matsui and Senator Feinstein have championed the project in their respective chambers of Congress, and have been working to see it authorized. They were joined on the tour by representatives from the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency (SAFCA) and the Army Corps of Engineers.

"The Natomas Levee Improvement Project is a critical public safety effort that will protect 100,000 people, create over 2,500 jobs, and will ensure our community is safe from disaster; it cannot be delayed," said Congresswoman Matsui. "I continue to look for options to authorize this project in the House, and to make the current Majority leadership understand the critical necessity of moving the NLIP forward. Meanwhile, Senator Feinstein has been a strong supporter of Sacramento's flood protection projects and the NLIP, and I am glad to have her fighting for this project in the Senate."

Congressional authorization of the NLIP is Congresswoman Matsui's top priority. Unfortunately, the earmark ban in the House of Representatives, enacted in January 2011 when Republicans took the majority in the chamber, has not allow for authorizations to move forward. The House Republicans' definition of earmark is so broad that even the NLIP, which has been thoroughly vetted by the Army Corps of Engineers, is still considered an "earmark.'

Congresswoman Matsui has continued to advocate to House Leadership and to urge them to reevaluate their earmark definition. She also continues to try creative avenues to seek authorization of the project, from introducing a stand-alone bill to authorize the NLIP, to pursuing action on a Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) that could move projects like this forward.

Senator Feinstein serves as Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development Appropriations. In November of 2011, she introduced in the Senate companion legislation to Congresswoman Matsui's own Natomas Basin Flood Protection Improvements Act.

"We are at a critical juncture in the project. An authorization is needed this year to allow the Corps to keep the project moving forward. Having Senator Feinstein and Congresswoman Matsui out here on the Sacramento River levees demonstrates the importance they place on public safety and the need for the authorization," noted SAFCA Executive Director Rick Johnson.

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