Congressman Dennis Cardoza
18th Congressional District of California

Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Merced) today applauded two key House-Senate Conference Reports, which together included over $4.8 Million in funding for California’s 18^th Congressional district.  Cardoza successfully appealed for the funding of vital Central Valley projects to be included in the House-Senate Conference Reports on Science, State, Justice and Commerce(H.R. 2862), and the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 2006 (H.R. 2419).

“I’m pleased that these bills include funding for so many important projects for our area,” Cardoza said.  “These appropriations will provide much-needed support in critical areas such as: flood control, drainage and law enforcement communications. I also want to thank Senator Dianne Feinstein, whose hard work on behalf of the Central Valley helped make this possible.”

The following 18^th District projects are funded in the Energy and Water Bill:

San Joaquin River – Westside Regional Drainage Program ($1,650,000)

Specifically, projects to be implemented include groundwater management, source control, drainage reuse, treatment and salt disposal.  The project will have beneficial impacts to the San Joaquin River by reducing discharge of drainage water and will provide needed drainage service to the westside of the San Joaquin Valley.

San Joaquin River - Stockton Channel Dredging ($2,597,000)

This project includes annual maintenance dredging, conducted to support growth and national economic demands at the Port of Stockton.

San Joaquin River Basin, West Stanislaus County, Orestimba Creek ($100,000)

This project addresses issues related to floods in western Stanislaus County, including the City of Newman. Orestimba Creek has flooded the City of Newman and surrounding areas more than 13 times in the past 43 years.  Flood waters have damaged commercial and residential properties, agricultural land, the Delta-Mendota Canal, Central California Irrigation District facilities, and numerous bridges and road crossings.  Continued investigations will analyze potential solutions for flood reduction, eco-system restoration and related purposes for Orestimba Creek.

The following 18^th District projects are funded in the CJS Bill:

City/County law enforcement initiative for Modesto and Stanislaus County ($400,000)

The San Joaquin County Public Safety Communication System project will migrate public safety entities within the County from their current analog communication system to a common digital platform allowing agencies to communicate directly with one another.  Agencies impacted include emergency services, fire, law enforcement, ambulance support and county public safety agencies.

City of Stockton, Communications Equipment  ($50,000)

As the volume of calls to the City of Stockton’s 911 centers continues to increase, so does the need for expanded capability and infrastructure to operate more efficiently.  This funding request will provide the ability to purchase and relocate updated equipment for law enforcement staff who field 1000 calls per day.