Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar recently announced both funding and a partnership that will have a positive impact on California’s water conservation and flood control efforts, and on job creation in our state.  This announcement is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R.1).

Specifically, Secretary Salazar announced that California will receive $260 million for water projects to help strengthen water infrastructure and increase flood protection in threatened communities.  While this will not solve all of our problems, it is a big step in the right direction.  Many of these projects will focus on Sacramento, San Joaquin, Tehama, Siskiyou, Trinity, and Del Norte Counties, but benefits will be widespread.

Secretary Salazar also announced that California will see a larger partnership role with water reclamation in years ahead.  California grows about half of the produce sold in our nation, and Secretary Salazar has committed to help to solve California’s water infrastructure problems.

These programs will help to improve California’s water infrastructure.  However, at this difficult economic time, these programs will also create thousands of jobs in local communities.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was meant to both improve local economies and provide much needed local projects.  This announcement by Secretary Salazar is very good news for many California communities.

You can learn more about the specifics of the Department of Interior announcement by using this link. 

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator