WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced the fiscal year 2009 Energy and Water Development spending bill provides more than $59.1 million for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects in Maryland, including more than $14.65 million for Harford and Cecil County priorities. The bill, which has passed the full Appropriations Committee, will now go to the Senate floor for a vote, which has not yet been scheduled.

“This bill is a federal investment in the lives and livelihoods that depend on the waterways of Maryland. This funding will help improve the quality of waterways in Northern Maryland,” said Senator Mikulski. “I will continue to fight to make Harford and Cecil Counties a priority in the federal checkbook.”

The spending bill includes:

• $14.1 million for operation and maintenance dredging of the C&D Canal and approach channels. The C&D Canal currently carries 40 percent of all ship traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore.

• $300,000 for the Susquehanna River Basin Low Flow Management and Environmental Restoration Project. The funding will be used to develop strategies to meet the growing demand for water in the Basin. Census estimates predict a 16 percent population increase in the area over the next 20 years.

• $200,000 for Conowingo Reservoir Sediment Management in Cecil County. The funding will be used to determine how large sediment buildup from behind the Conowingo Reservoir can be prevented from entering the Chesapeake Bay.

• $50,000 for Charlestown in Cecil County to fund flood control projects. Charlestown suffered significant water damage from heavy rains in 2004.