- 2003 July 21 Sacramento Bee David Westphal
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Folsom, Calif., Dam Deal in Works

Jun. 21--WASHINGTON -- Reps. John Doolittle and Robert Matsui, long at odds over Sacramento flood control, are at work on a compromise that would authorize nearly $250 million to raise Folsom Dam, plus a "comparable amount" for water supply improvements in Placer and El Dorado counties.

The deal under negotiation would unite Matsui, D-Sacramento, and Doolittle, R-Rocklin, for the first time on a comprehensive water management bill that does not involve the construction of a multipurpose dam at Auburn, which Doolittle has concluded is politically impossible at this time.

Instead, the deal would allow Sacramento to reach its flood protection goal by raising Folsom Dam by 7 feet, while El Dorado and Placer counties in Doolittle's district reap some of the water-supply benefits they would have received if an Auburn dam had been built.

"This is probably the best opportunity (for a deal) we've both seen in a number of years," said Matsui. "It is real. We understand each other in terms of our respective needs."
A deal between Doolittle and Matsui doesn't mean easy congressional approval. But the two lawmakers, both of whom have influential leadership positions with their political caucuses, would end a fierce standoff over Sacramento flood control that has mired work on water project bills for nearly a decade.

Doolittle said that if he and Matsui can reach a compromise, it is likely that congressional leaders will go along just to get the issue resolved.
"This has been such a problem," Doolittle said. "I think everyone will be relieved to move beyond this."

Doolittle said he still believes that building an Auburn dam is the best solution to meeting the Sacramento area's flood-control needs. He also said he remains uneasy about adding more height and weight to the top of the 50-year-old Folsom Dam.

"But in the interest of working something out that meets the needs of all constituents involved, I'd be willing to set those aside," Doolittle said. "I am hopeful that what we are talking about now will result in improvements in both areas -- flood control and water supply.

"I must tell you, however, that we will never have an ade...uate solution, in my opinion, until an Auburn dam is built," he added. "Since it doesn't seem capable of being built prior to some catastrophe, despite my best efforts, I will simply look for interim measures until that day finally happens."

Capital-area officials and activists were encouraged by the prospects of a deal but cautious.

Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo, chairwoman of the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, said she is excited that Sacramento flood control is on the verge of advancing in the House of Representatives.

"I am pleased there are conversations going on," she said. "I wish them luck."

But Ronald Stork of Friends of the River, long an adversary of Doolittle's over an Auburn dam, said an agreement between the two lawmakers doesn't mean automatic passage in Congress.

"This may be optimistic from a flood-control perspective, perhaps even from a water-supply perspective, but it is a procedural thicket," Stork said. "Federal water projects come with some obligations -- repayment obligations, that the projects be in the federal interest and that they have undergone some review. The congressmen don't have room to cut an unlimited deal."

But Aileen Roder of Taxpayers for Common Sense said legislation endorsed by Doolittle and Matsui likely would have smooth sailing in Congress.

"Doolittle is close to the Republican leadership and it's the leadership and (House Majority Leader) Tom DeLay that very much decide which legislation makes it to the House floor," she said. "This would increase the possibility of the Folsom raise getting to the floor."

But whether environmental and taxpayer organizations would support a Matsui-Doolittle compromise remains to be seen.
"We'd have to see what the local cost share is," Roder said.

Stork added that the success of the two lawmakers may depend on how willing they are to limit the water projects in Doolittle's district to those with the least environmental concerns.

The negotiations are coming to a head just as leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee are gearing up to write a huge water projects bill. An effort to enact a water bill last year fell victim to a fight between the House and Senate over reforming the way the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers justifies river and harbor projects.

Despite Matsui's efforts to make the Folsom Dam project part of last year's package, Doolittle managed to block its inclusion. He and committee Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska, raised ...uestions about the safety of adding onto the dam, delaying for months the completion of a final report from the Corps of Engineers' chief recommending the project for authorization.

The chief later sent his recommendations to Capitol Hill, including modifications to address stability problems Young and Doolittle had raised, but it was too late for the project to be made part of last year's failed effort.

The standoff between Matsui and Doolittle also has been complicating a solution for Folsom-area commuters since the Bureau of Reclamation's closure of a popular commuter corridor over Folsom Dam in February because of national security concerns.

The area's congressional delegation wants a downstream replacement bridge built, but disagrees over how to do that. Doolittle and Rep. Doug Ose, R-Sacramento, have united behind a bill that would make the bureau pay for a replacement bridge, while under a Matsui bill the bridge would be built as part of raising Folsom Dam. Doolittle and Matsui declined to go into any details about what their water compromise would involve, but a new bridge almost certainly would be part of the deal.

Matsui and Doolittle have included leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in their negotiations, since that panel will be the first major test for any compromise they reach. The committee is expected to take up a water bill in the next few weeks.