Congressman Mike Honda has submitted a $2 million federal
funding request to keep design plans flowing for the local Llagas
Creek Flood Protection Project.
Morgan Hill
Congressman Mike Honda has submitted a $2 million federal funding request to keep design plans flowing for the local Llagas Creek Flood Protection Project.
Honda, who represents California’s 15th district, requested the funds from the 2010 federal budget, and local officials sponsoring the project are glad the funds, if approved, will keep the long-stalled project going.
The Llagas Creek project is sponsored locally by the Santa Clara Valley Water District, and federally by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Started in the 1950s and intended to prevent flooding along the banks of Llagas Creek through South Santa Clara County, the project has been held up since 1999 due to a lack of federal funding.
Honda said the project will protect 1,100 homes, 500 businesses, and 1,300 acres of agricultural land in Santa Clara county from flood waters during heavy rains.
“Failing to do so would result in damages totaling in the tens of millions of dollars,” Honda said in a statement. “That is why I continue to advocate for the completion of this project. It makes sense from every standpoint: business, environmental and social.”
Honda’s district includes Gilroy and other parts of unincorporated South County that would be affected by the project, but not the city of Morgan Hill.
The risk of flooding on Llagas Creek is still fresh in the minds of many Morgan Hill officials. In January 2008 the downtown area flooded when about seven inches of rain fell in two days, knocking out power to hundreds of homes.
Honda’s request comes on the heels of a grant of $287,000 for the same project in a 2009 omnibus bill signed by President Barack Obama in March.
“We really appreciate the support from our representatives in Congress and are glad they see this project as a priority,” water district Director Rosemary Kamei said.
According to water district staff, the Corps has indicated it would use the $2 million for the completion of environmental studies, and to continue design documents for the project.
The total cost of the project is currently estimated at about $130 million. The water district is responsible for property acquisition and the relocation of utilities and bridges necessary for the project. Its total share of the project’s cost is about $50 million.
The Corps is responsible for the project’s assessment, design and construction.
It will likely be “several months” before Honda’s request is approved and included in the federal budget bill, according to the congressman’s communications director Michael Shank. He said the bill could be passed by Oct. 1.