Is there a silver lining in the storm clouds that brought the recent flood?
By Heather Stanton, Project Manager, Napa River-Napa Creek Flood Protection Project The community has suffered another disastrous flood. But this time, there is the possibility of a silver lining in the storm clouds, a chance that something good can come from our misfortune. At this moment, the Presidents budget for fiscal year 2006 is being prepared in Washington, D.C. It will be presented on February 7th. This is the first step in the process that leads to allocations for Corps of Engineers projects around the country. In recent years, the Presidents budget has proposed as little as 25% of the amount the Corps needs for our Napa Project. In 2005 the Corps stated they could issue contracts for $24 million in work here, but the Presidents budget offered only $6 million. Through the hard work of our Congressman Mike Thompson and Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, that amount was raised in Congress to $12 million. As you can imagine, the greater the gap between the Presidents p
