News

Senate Stalemate Delays Critical Flood Control Dam Funding

Today, the U.S. Senate delayed consideration of a farm bill that would authorize $150 million for the nation’s only dam rehabilitation program. The stalemate came as a result of lawmakers’ inability to reach agreement on the number of amendments to be offered on the legislation. The Small Watershed Rehabilitation program assists local communities with improving aging flood control dams, thereby helping to address public health and safety needs before a tragic dam failure occurs. The current $15 billion infrastructure of 11,000 flood control dams and conservation practices in 2,000 watersheds provides $2 billion in annual benefits to over 47 million citizens. As it stands, nearly one-fifth of those 11,000 dams have reached the end of their 50-year planned service life. By 2016, almost two-thirds of the watershed dams will have reached this milestone. AGC continues to strongly advocate for sorely needed investment in our nation’s aging infrastructure, including its dams. For more information, please contact Jimmy Christianson at 703-837-5310 or christiansonj@agc.org