New Life for Auburn Dam Project?
Because Sacramento is the next most vulnerable community after New Orleans where floods are concerned, this blog re-endorsed the Auburn Dam shortly after Katrina, and publicly questioned Sacramento’s Mayor about it at the Pocket Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness meeting. Mayor Fargo objected to the 200 year flood protection the Auburn Dam would provide because she said achieving 100 year protection was doable, and we shouldn’t pass up funding for the levees while waiting for a dam which may never be built.
The Sac Bee is reporting the Auburn Dam idea may have come back to life.
Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, who headed the House Resources Committee hearing on water supply vulnerabilities, said the flood protection Sacramento will get from improvements to Folsom Dam that have been authorized by Congress is insufficient.
He said he thinks Congress will fund a new feasibility study for an Auburn dam, which could double the city’s protection.
I hate to say it but Mayor Fargo might be right. Translating Washington DC speak to English, ”feasibility study” means putting it off until the political climate changes and people forget about it. We don’t really need another study, we need a dam.
Perhaps the political climate in Washington in the wake of Katrina is conducive to getting it done, but in the meantime, levee upgrades and certifications should continue.