Press Release of U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer

Boxer Lauds Federal Investment in Safety of Folsom Dam  

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) lauded the Bureau of Reclamation’s announcement today that it has awarded a $16.6 million contract to modify the spillway piers and gates of Folsom Dam to improve seismic safety.

Senator Boxer said, “This investment will help protect Sacramento-area residents by speeding seismic repairs to Folsom Dam.”

The project is part of Bureau of Reclamation’s Infrastructure Reliability and Safety of Dams improvements. It will be funded through the Recovery Act.

Senator Boxer has long championed efforts to improve flood protection in the Sacramento area, which has the highest flood risk of any major city in the country because of the city’s aging levee system.

As Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Boxer played a central role in ensuring that the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 included $444 million in federal funding to protect communities in Sacramento. Since fiscal year 2006, she has helped secure more than $230 million in appropriations for various flood control projects surrounding Sacramento, including levee and channel improvements along the Sacramento and American Rivers, and raising and modifying Folsom Dam.

For more information about the Bureau of Reclamation award, go to: http://www.usbr.gov/newsroom/newsrelease/detail.cfm?RecordID=32281.