$100 million still owed project

By JAY GOETTING, Register Staff Writer
Thursday, August 24, 2006

A multi-million dollar piece of the puzzle for Napa's flood control project fell into place this week.

"The check is in hand," said Bill Dodd, chairman of the Flood Control and Water Conservation District board, referring to $10 million received from the state.

The money, part of a much larger amount the state still owes the local project, was shepherded from Sacramento to Napa by Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa.

Evans helped ensure the funds were included in the 2006-07 state budget as a partial payment for so-called flood subvention funds the state owes the project. The total tops $100 million in so-called state subventions.

Evans spokesman Anthony Matthews said the check was written by the state on Aug. 16 and in local coffers by this Monday.

"Assemblywoman Evans fought to get that in the budget," said Matthews.

The funds will enable the quarter-billion dollar Napa project to keep moving despite funding difficulties at both the state and federal levels.

The local portion of the funding, coming from a voter-approved half-cent sales tax increase, continues to flow in at a higher rate than projected. But state and federal budgets have provided only a fraction of the requested amount.

The sales tax increase to fund the flood project was approved in 1998 and remains in place until 2018. More than $8 million was collected from the tax last year, 41.9 percent beyond initial projections.

This is in stark contrast to money anticipated from Sacramento and Washington.

Of the $99 million requested from the federal government since construction began, the White House and Congress have come up with $60 million, resulting in construction delays and adding to the potential for flooding.

The state has an even more dismal record, coming through with just $32 million of a requested $108 million.

Local officials say the project completion could now be as far out as 2014 if state and federal funding remains elusive.

Small fixes ahead

Meanwhile, county officials are ready to spend money $200,000 to study measures to prevent localized flooding in the future.

Napa County public works officials have identified a number of flood-prone areas that could benefit from small flood projects. Rick Thomasser, the county's watershed and flood control operations manager, told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday areas such as Rutherford, the Milliken-Sarco-Tulocay creeks watershed and Deer Park are known to have problems, but further work is needed to determine how they can best be helped.

Funding would come from Measure A, the same half-cent sales tax that is funding the quarter billion dollar downtown Napa flood control project. Each city in the county as well as the unincorporated area of the county are entitled to a portion of the tax proceeds.

Thomasser believes four or five areas will have "moderate" projects and could be placed at the top of a priority list, depending on the number of properties and structures affected. Aiding in the determination is a recently received Federal Emergency Management Agency report on repetitive flood losses.

Caltrans has already begun some minor work removing gravel buildup from beneath a bridge over Dry Creek at Highway 29, between Napa and Yountville. The state agency has agreed to do the work on two nearby bridges in return for the county providing a dumping spot for the removed material.

http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2006/08/24/news/local/iq_3571248.txt