Each year, I work with local governments, service providers, public agencies, and others to secure funding that will benefit people in California’s 7th congressional district. The annual congressional appropriations process is always very competitive and in recent years, Congress has implemented significant reforms to increase transparency and to reduce directed funding for specific projects.

Therefore, I am asking each agency or group seeking my assistance with congressional funding to submit a written questionnaire as a preliminary step. As we get closer to the Appropriations Committee’s consideration of funding requests, my staff will likely request additional information from those seeking federal funding. Receiving this information is very important to me and will allow my office to fully evaluate your request along with others.

Please know that while the appropriations process begins early in the year, many of the bills that fund projects will not be considered until the end of the calendar year. This form is a PRELIMINARY STEP and DOES NOT guarantee that you will receive any funding.

Additionally, please know that given the severe constraints on the federal budget, I will not be submitting requests to the Appropriations Committee to fund projects for private, for-profit entities.

All information submitted through this process may be made available for public scrutiny, and those seeking funding through this process should be prepared to justify their project as a worthy use of taxpayer funds.

All appropriations requests submitted to my office will be managed through my Washington, D.C. office. Please contact my staff at CA07appropriations@mail.house.gov with any questions about this form or call my D.C. office at 202-225-2095.

This form must be completed and submitted to my office no later than Friday, February 12 at 6:00 P.M. (PST).

Thank you for your cooperation and patience and for your careful attention to these guidelines. While the funding needs of the 7th congressional district will exceed the availability of federal funds, I will give your request every consideration.

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WRDA Project Requests

Congressman Miller submitted the following projects to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on behalf of the 7th Congressional District of California for inclusion in the 2010 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). Descriptions of the projects come from the requesting agencies:

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Chelsea Wetlands Restoration Project

Requested by: City of Hercules
Amount of Request: $1,650,000

The Chelsea Wetlands Restoration Project will restore tidal marsh, floodplain storage, and floodplain habitat functions. The Project is located at the once-common transition area between the bottom land tidal flood plain and the Pinole Creek riparian corridor. Throughout the San Francisco Estuary, historic efforts to control and straighten stream corridors have cut off many passageways from their flood plains including at the lower reaches near the bay. This region-wide loss has caused the populations of many wildlife species dependent on such habitat to plummet and flood conditions to worsen.

The Project will restore the wetland, aquatic, and wetland upland transitional habitats for a wide range of wildlife species, and it will provide over 12 acre-feet of overflow flood storage capacity for lower Pinole Creek. The Project will also provide public access and interpretive elements by providing turnouts, benches, and signage along an existing alignment of the San Francisco Bay Trail.

City in which the project is located: Hercules

Contra Costa Canal Levee Elimination

Requested by: Contra Costa Water District
Amount of Request: $20,000,000

This project will eliminate eight miles of levees and replace the unlined portion of the federally-owned Contra Costa Canal with buried pipeline.

The Contra Costa Canal was designed and built by Reclamation starting in the late 1930’s to convey agricultural water supplies to rural Contra Costa County. The canal levees now transport water to 550,000 people in Contra Costa County through an area experiencing rapid residential growth and where surrounding land is 10 to 15 feet lower.

The levees were not designed to provide flood protection, although they now serve this purpose. The project will also enhance water quality by eliminating runoff and groundwater seepage. Eliminating local degradation will increase water supply for the Federal Central Valley Project by reducing the need for upstream releases into the Delta to offset this local degradation.

City in which the project is located: Brentwood, Oakley

EBMUD Mokelumne Aqueduct Intertie

Requested by: East Bay Municipal Utility District
Amount of Request: $4,000,000

EBMUD relies on the Mokelumne Aqueducts, which consist of 3 separate steel pipelines with diameters of 87, 67 and 65 inches. The aqueducts cross about 15 miles of the Delta, including fragile islands and levees. EBMUD is connected with two other water districts in the region, making the aqueducts a linchpin in an increasingly integrated water system serving more than 4 million people. The aqueducts are vulnerable to collapse should levees fail or earthquakes occur. Should this happen, economic and social stability of the region would be jeopardized as well as provision of water supplies to federal facilities.

The aqueduct intertie will allow for continued water supply to the region in the event of damage to EBMUD's aqueducts due to natural disasters or levee failures.

This project is a good candidate for federal participation because of the impact of upon economic dislocation, flood-related impacts, and disruption of safe and reliable water supplies to the Bay Area. It also will complement other federal Delta initiatives.

City in which the project is located: Richmond, San Leandro, Lafayettte, Oakland, Piedmont, Berkeley

Hercules Dredging Project

Requested by: City of Hercules
Amount of Request: $9,000,000

The Hercules Dredging Project is located on San Pablo Bay in Contra Costa County, California. The Bay geography has water currents depositing large amounts of sediment near the site of a future ferry terminal. This ferry service will be a part of the Hercules Intermodal Transit Center, the largest transit-oriented development project in California. The Transit Center is an integral part of the Hercules Waterfront - a mixed-use development that includes residential, retail, office, and civic spaces.

The Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) has proposed a ferry route from Hercules to San Francisco. The ferry terminal will provide an economic stimulus for the region, in addition to emergency access to Contra Costa County if highway travel is disrupted in a disaster. The primary goals of the project are: 1) Dredge the affected area for proper development of the ferry service. 2) Identify an environmentally sound re-use of the dredged material.

City in which the project is located: Hercules

Laguna Creek Detention Basin

Requested by: City of Vacaville
Amount of Request: $4,800,000

2005 storms caused severe flooding in developed areas of the city, resulting in property damage, as well as the need for evacuations, emergency housing and debris removal at a cost of $26 million.

Detention basins are the most cost effective and least environmental damaging solution to capture and store excessive storm water runoff for a period of no more than 24 hours following a major storm event. The proposed 500 ac-ft Laguna Creek Detention Basin, which will lie entirely outside of the natural and normal creek bank, will significantly reduce, and in many cases eliminate, residential and business flooding for up to 50 year storm events.

City in which the project is located: Vacaville

Miller Knox Shoreline Access Improvements

Requested by: East Bay Regional Park District
Amount of Request: $4,000,000

Since its construction, the park has been isolated from the shoreline just a few hundred feet away by the railroad tracks. After years of effort, the railroad has abandoned the rail lines. Lack of shoreline access is a pandemic in underserved communities such as Richmond. Richmond needs access to the shoreline.

Some funds have been set aside to improve the park, but much more is needed to eradicate the blighted conditions in there. This project will including constructing public access improvements at Miller Knox Regional Shoreline to include: removal of tracks and fencing, re-grading of former railroad right-of-way from existing park to bay shoreline and renovation and expansion of meadow areas and irrigation. It also involves removing 16,000 cubic yards of silt and vegetation to improve the viability of the interior lagoon system. It will also add four more flush restrooms in high use area of the main park facility.

City in which the project is located: Richmond

Mt. Diablo Mercury Mine Cleanup

Requested by: Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District
Amount of Request: $483,000

This project will complete the planning process and authorize the Corps to conduct cleanup of the Mt. Diablo mercury mine in Contra Costa County’s Marsh Creek Watershed.

The Corps has completed Phase I of their Technical Planning Process under the Remediation of Abandoned Mine Sites (RAMS) program, and the funding request will allow completion of the process.

This demonstration project is the first to combine the RAMS program and partnering agreements with local government to resolve liability issues associated with a clean-up project on private property and address mercury pollution on a watershed basis. As a demonstration project the Corps is requested to fully fund the planning and construction.

This WRDA request is for Corps authorization to construct the mine cleanup, which is a logical progression after completing the planning work. Because this is a demonstration project, this WRDA request is for 100% federal funding the planning and construction of the project. Local government agency liability prevents participation by local government in mine remediation. Either Congress passes legislation protecting local government from liability or the Corps must fund the total project.

City in which the project is located: Brentwood, Oakley

Regional Seismic Protection Upgrade Program

Requested by: East Bay Municipal Utility District
Amount of Request: $35,000,000

EBMUD's Regional Seismic Protection Upgrade Program recognizes the presence of several active earthquake faults, including the Hayward Fault, that run through its service area in the East Bay. This program is intended to increase the seismic stability of both water distribution and raw water storage reservoirs that are part of EBMUD's water supply system, improve the reliability of water service, and help protect the proximate densely populated urban communities from flooding during a major earthquake.

It is a good candidate for federal participation because of its impact upon economic dislocation, flood-related impacts, and disruption of safe and reliable water supplies to the Bay Area.

The Regional Seismic Protection Upgrade includes Chabot Dam, Briones and Lafayette Tower, Dam Seismic Surveillance, Drain Valve West of Hills Pressure Zone and Upper San Leandro Dam Spillway Upgrades.

City in which the project is located: Richmond, San Leandro, Lafayettte, Oakland, Piedmont, Berkeley

Rheem Creek Project

Requested by: Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District
Amount of Request: $100,000

The Corps of Engineers constructed the Rheem Creek Project in the 1960s to protect a wide range of commercial, industrial, residential and open space areas in the Richmond/San Pablo area of Contra Costa County. The project has served this purpose very well, but the creek, by design, has very limited habitat value.

The East Bay Regional Park District has recently acquired a large parcel at the mouth of Rheem Creek that was previously slated for development. Development of the adjacent lands as a regional park provides a unique opportunity to provide an enhanced creek environment in an area that will be very visible to the public. This is an excellent opportunity to modify the Corps original design for ecosystem restoration. The District is seeking an 1135 project authorization (Project Modifications for Improvement of the Environment) for Rheem Creek between the mouth at San Pablo Bay and Giant Road.

City in which the project is located: Richmond, San Pablo

Rodeo Creek Project

Requested by: Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District
Amount of Request: $100,000

The Rodeo Creek Section 1135 project will enhance the fish and wildlife values of the original USACE Rodeo Creek Flood Control Project by:
• Constructing a proper meandering low flow channel
• Providing a wide range of appropriate habitat types
• Enhancing the adjacent floodplain bench
• Modifying the channel cross section to ensure continued levels of flood
protection

When the USACE constructed the Rodeo Creek Project in the 1960s, its focus was preventing erosion and flood damages to the community of Rodeo. The project met these objectives very well over the last four decades, but it requires extensive, environmentally insensitive maintenance to keep the channel functioning property.

The Flood Control District would like to partner with the Corps of Engineers – a repeat of the partnership that originally created the channel – to transform this outdated design into a sustainable, environmentally sensitive facility that better serves the community and the environment.

City in which the project is located: Rodeo

Ulatis Creek Detention Basin

Requested by: City of Vacaville
Amount of Request: $3,000,000

Flooding is a known and recognized risk for the City of Vacaville. There have been 12 flooding related disaster events in Vacaville since 1963, including 6 federal flood related declarations since 1986. The most recent was due to the storms of 12/30/05 and 12/31/05. During the 2005 event severe flooding occurred in developed areas of the city resulting in property damage as well as the need for evacuations, emergency housing and debris removal at a cost of $26 million.

Detention basins are the most cost effective and least environmental damaging solution to capture and store excessive storm water runoff for a period of no more than 24 hours following a major storm event. The proposed 540 acre-feet Ulatis Creek Detention Basin, which will lie entirely outside of the natural and normal creek bank, will significantly reduce residential and business flooding for 50 and 100 year storm events.

City in which the project is located: Vacaville

Wildcat Creek Trail Pedestrian Bridge

Requested by: East Bay Regional Park District
Amount of Request: $8,000,000

This project will construct the Wildcat Creek Trail Pedestrian Bridge over Richmond Parkway to address environmental justice issues and repair failed undercrossing constructed by the Army Corps.

During the 1990s, the Army Corps of Engineers attempted to repair the lower reaches of Wildcat Creek in Richmond. In an effort to address the environmental justice concerns of the community, the Corps constructed a trail along the flood control channel, including an undercrossing of the Richmond Parkway—a high speed multi-lane arterial road. Soon after construction, the creek became loaded with sediment and the undercrossing was overwhelmed and abandoned. Now, the community is once again cut off from the shoreline. The bridge will restore public access to the shoreline and will restore pride to the underserved shoreline community in Richmond.

City in which the project is located: Richmond

Central Valley Flood Protection and Water Resources Development Program
Requested by: California Department of Water Resources

This statutory language would create the Central Valley Flood Protection and Water Resources Development Program in California. The purpose is to adopt a regional approach focused primarily upon crediting and reimbursement for federal flood control, water resources development and ecosystem restoration projects affecting California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley.

Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Infrastructure
Requested by: Delta County Coalition

This project would establish a pilot program to provide environmental assistance to non-Federal interests in the Counties of Sacramento, Yolo, Solano, San Joaquin and Contra Costa, California.

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