The powerful U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee last week approved $11 million for the Napa River Flood Project as part of the $33 billion 2009 energy and water appropriations bill.

The $11 million figure is $3.6 million higher than the one President Bush included in his budget proposal to Congress, but less than half of the $22.8 million requested by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“Compared to what we’ve got in past years I think that’s a step in the right direction,” said Napa County Supervisor Bill Dodd, an advocate for the project.

Last year, Congress allocated $10.8 million for Flood Project construction and planning, about $3 million more than President Bush originally proposed. Since 1999, the project has received $84.5 million, only about 60 percent of what the Corps of Engineers has requested in that period of time.

Local officials blame the trickle of funding from the feds for slowing the project, which was originally slated to end this year but now is projected to finish in 2016 or later.

Nonetheless, Dodd said the news from Washington is promising for Napa County. “I think that what we’re dealing with is the realities of the federal government, and any time you can get more than what the president has put in his budget, (it) means that our elected officials back there, Mike Thompson and others, are doing the best that they can.”

Local officials have mounted a vigorous lobbying campaign to secure federal funding for next year, including a recent visit to Washington to lobby Congress. The Napa City Council passed a resolution earlier this year supporting the Corps’ request for $22.8 million.

In Congress, Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, promised to work with California’s two senators to increase funding from the president’s proposed $7.5 million.

“I am very pleased that I was able to persuade the Appropriations Committee to add funding to the president’s request for the Napa Flood Project,” he said. “I think it demonstrates Congress’ awareness of how important this project is to our community, considering the pressure we are under to increase flood control resources across the nation, including in the Midwest and Gulf Coast.”

Thompson praised the project as a model of innovative design that incorporates flood protection with features that encourage wildlife and economic activity,  and praised the comprehensive approach that utilizes input from local residents, businesses, government and environmental groups.

“This project is critical not only to the flood protection of downtown Napa, but also to the area’s economic development,” he said in a prepared statement. “In December 2005 and January 2006, flooding along the Napa River caused more than $115 million worth of damage to Napa and the surrounding communities. Fortunately, the areas where the existing project was completed were protected. Otherwise, the damage would have been more widespread.”

The appropriations bill now must be approved by the full House and U.S. Senate.

Dodd remains hopeful. “Based on what we’ve seen in the past with the House Appropriations bills,” he said, “I can’t remember a time that they’ve actually cut the Napa Flood Control Project after it’s gotten this far.”