Supervisor Jim Silva was in Washington on Wednesday to urge a House subcommittee to continue funding for the mammoth Santa Ana River Mainstream Project, which is designed to reduce the threat of flooding in Orange County.
The House must appropriate funds every year for the federal share of the project, which involves widening the river, raising Prado Dam and constructing a second dam. Work is more than 50% complete, and officials expect the job to be finished by 2000.
Silva told the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development that the flood-control improvements are needed to protect residents who live and work next to the river.
The full House Appropriations Committee will decide on a specific funding amount this year. It has been allocating $50 million annually for the project.
Improvements already made have enabled the county to file an application with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a reduction in mandatory flood insurance rates now paid by thousands of homeowners who live in the flood plain.
