CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Joint Resolution
No. 14
Introduced by Senator Archuleta
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Cristina Garcia)
(Coauthor: Senator Rubio)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Calderon)
|
February 26, 2020 |
Relative to flood control.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SJR 14, as introduced, Archuleta.
Whittier Narrows Dam: flood protection improvements: federal funding.
This measure would urge the United States Congress to include and approve in its 2021 budget an appropriation of approximately $385,000,000 to the United States of Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works program to perform the critically needed construction and repair work on Whittier Narrows Dam to protect the citizens of southeastern Los Angeles County from catastrophic flooding.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
NO WHEREAS, The Whittier Narrows Dam serves as a water conservation, storage, and flood management facility for the waters of the San Gabriel River and Rio Hondo in the County of Los Angeles; and
WHEREAS, The Whittier Narrows Dam is 11 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and protects over 2,000,000 residents of southeastern Los Angeles County from flooding, including the Cities of Pico Rivera and Montebello; and
WHEREAS, The Whittier Narrows Dam is maintained and operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers; and
WHEREAS, The Whittier Narrows Dam is one of the most at-risk facilities among all dams in the United States. As of 2016, the United States Army Corps of Engineers has designated the Whittier Narrows Dam as “Dam Safety Action Classification 1,” which is the highest urgency classification; and
WHEREAS, This reclassification was a result of a Dam Safety Modification Study conducted on the facility in 2012 and evaluates danger to local communities, including the incremental risk of loss of life and adverse economic consequences from dam failure or inability to function as intended or needed; and
WHEREAS, The United States Army Corps of Engineers has identified three potential sources of failure for the Whittier Narrows Dam: premature opening of spill gates, backward erosion of pipes in the foundation, and overtopping; and
WHEREAS, The Dam Safety Modification Study found that no communities downstream from the Whittier Narrows Dam, including the Cities of Pico Rivera and Montebello, have adequate emergency preparedness plans; and
WHEREAS, United States Representative Grace Napolitano is the Chairperson of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment and she has directly advocated for construction of repairs and improvements to the Whittier Narrows Dam for a decade and was instrumental in securing proposed funding for these efforts in the United States Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works program budget and work plan; and
WHEREAS, Approximately $385,000,000 has been identified in the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2021 for the United States Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works program to perform the needed repairs and construction work to maintain the capability of Whittier Narrows Dam to protect the citizens of southeastern Los Angeles County from catastrophic flooding; and
WHEREAS, The final appropriation of federal funds for the United States Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works program to perform the construction and repair work on Whittier Narrows Dam must be included and approved by the United States Congress in its 2021 Congressional Budget Resolution and related appropriations bills; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the United States Congress to include and approve in its 2021 budget the recommended appropriation of approximately $385,000,000 to the United States Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works program to perform the critically needed construction and repair work on Whittier Narrows Dam to protect the citizens of southeastern Los Angeles County from catastrophic flooding; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.