Flood Protection
Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers, Sacramento and West Sacramento face a constant threat of flooding. With the major floods of 1986 and 1997, the Sacramento region understands the importance of a modern, system-wide approach to flood control. Throughout her time in Congress, Congresswoman Matsui has continuously advocated for federal resources to minimize our risk of flooding, which includes maintaining and strengthening the region’s levee and dam system while taking a wider, watershed approach to managing high-water events. Over the years, Congresswoman has secured hundreds of billions of federal dollars to support these local flood control projects. Flood control is one of her top priorities and areas of focus.
Congresswoman Matsui is working closely with the Army Corps of Engineers in addition to the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency (SAFCA) and the West Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency (WSAFCA) to advance major levee strengthening projects with the potential to result in multiple billions of dollars of additional flood protection for the region.
Additionally, it is critical that residents in the Sacramento region have the flood insurance they need to protect their homes and businesses from potential flood damage. That is why Congresswoman Matsui works every day to lower insurance costs for ratepayers and to invest in the flood protection infrastructure we need to avoid flooding altogether.
For more information on Congresswoman Matsui’s flood protection agenda, please review the items below:
Accomplishments
Since taking office in 2005, Congresswoman Matsui has secured over $3 billion for flood projects in the Sacramento region.
Led 20 colleagues with Representative Nadler (NY-10) in writing a letter to President Biden to address the urgency of climate resiliency and enhancing flood protection measures in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Folsom Dam Spillway — Joint Federal Project
The Joint Federal Project at Folsom Dam is a nearly $1 billion effort that will more than double Sacramento’s flood protection through the construction of an auxiliary spillway at Folsom Dam. Congresswoman Matsui led the fight in Congress to authorize construction of the spillway in 2007. Since that time, the Congresswoman has fought every year for federal funding to ensure the project was completed on time in 2017. Congresswoman Matsui secured more than $500 million in federal investments for the Joint Federal Project at Folsom Dam.
Folsom Dam and Levee Improvements
In an effort to create system-wide flood protection, Congresswoman Matsui has advocated strengthening the Folsom Dam, including raising the existing crest elevation to create more capacity. In these efforts, the Congresswoman has secured over $270 million in federal funds.
Additionally in 2020, Congresswoman Matsui has secured over $131 million in federal funding to strengthen Natomas levees. Protecting the people and businesses in Natomas is one of the Congresswoman’s top priorities, and she looks forward to building on her previous work for the basin to ensure that the levees in Natomas are as strong as possible.
Congresswoman Matsui is also working with federal and local partners to ensure West Sacramento has modern flood protections, advocating for the West Sacramento Project. This $1.2 billion dollar project would provide state-of-the-art protection for West Sacramento’s 54,000 residents.
More on Flood Protection
West Sacramento’s State of the City address listed a litany of achievements, such as being home to a Major League Baseball team.
Earth Day in West Sacramento involved more than just planting some trees.
Sacramento has some of the highest flood risk in the nation, and the sunny skies and receding rivers mean flood control crews can get back to work on projects that protect the region.
Congresswoman Doris Matsui made her annual visit to West Sacramento, focusing on flood control, transportation, and fire safety, on March 28.
SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-07) celebrates the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s announcement of $207.6 million in Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants, including an award of $67.5 million for the State of California.
Coming out of the state’s driest three-year period ever recorded, the new year launched a series of atmospheric rivers that pummeled California’s lowlands with rain, hail and violent winds, and packed the Sierra Nevada with near-record depths of snow.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-07) announced nearly $74 million in continued federal funding for Sacramento region flood protection infrastructure through the American River Common Features 2016 project.
Multiple levee breaches in southern Sacramento County caused by severe flooding during winter storms are posing a problem for a small agency in charge of maintaining its stretch of levees along the Cosumnes River in Wilton.
The $1.7 trillion federal spending bill moving quickly through Congress has millions of dollars for Sacramento-area roads, bike paths, water projects and more. There’s money for sidewalk and bike path projects in Folsom.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA), issued the following statement after the introduction of final text of the omnibus spending bill to fund the government for fiscal year 2023.