[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 106 (Wednesday, July 15, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1785-E1786]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          EARMARK DECLARATION

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. SAM GRAVES

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 15, 2009

  Mr. GRAVES. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership 
standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information 
regarding earmarks I received as part of H.R. 3183, the Energy and 
Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010:
  Congressman Sam Graves (MO-6)
  Department of Defense, Corps of Engineers--Civil, Investigations--
$350,000 to the Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District for the 
Missouri River Levee System (MRLS) Units L-455 and R 471-460 (4800 East 
63rd Street, Kansas City, MO 64130)
  Federal funds obtained will be used to advance design of the levee 
system on the Missouri River at Elwood and Wathena, KS and St. Joseph, 
MO. Damage from flooding has been significant in St. Joseph and the 
surrounding area, with devastating floods occurring in 1881, 1952 and 
1993. In the Great Flood of 1993, Unit R 471-460 failed causing more 
than $97 million in damages. The levee system extends over 29 miles in 
length, protecting industrial and residential areas in St. Joseph worth 
over $1 billion. The feasibility study was completed in 2006 
identifying an alternative to raise 13 miles of the right bank unit of 
the levee protecting Elwood, Wathena, and the MO Air National Guard 
base.
  Congressman Sam Graves (MO-6)
  Department of Defense, Corps of Engineers--Civil, Section 205--Funds 
to the Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District for the Blacksnake 
Creek Feasibility Study (4800 East 63rd Street, Kansas City, MO 64130)
  The Blacksnake Creek is a tributary of the Missouri River. In 1984 a 
flash flood in St. Joseph, MO devastated homes and commercial

[[Page E1786]]

property in its two largest watersheds, including Blacksnake Creek, a 
watershed of 5,200 acres. In order to provide a higher level of flood 
protection the City and the Corps of Engineers initiated a feasibility 
study of flood control improvements that can be implemented along 
Blacksnake Creek in St. Joseph. The project would create a storm water 
detention basin to capture storm water from 3,300 acres of the 
watershed and protect the fully developed area of 1,900 acres 
downstream. The project itself has increased in importance as a result 
of the EPA and its Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) regulations. As a 
result, the project is critical to address both flooding and storm 
water detention and outfall redirection to keep storm water flow out of 
the combined system and improve water quality as a result. Flooding on 
the creek threatens the commercial and residential corridor. Federal 
funds obtained will be used to initiate design work.
  Congressman Sam Graves (MO-6) (along with the President, Rep. Cleaver 
and Rep. Moore (KS))
  Department of Defense, Corps of Engineers--Civil, Investigations--
$700,000 to the Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District for Missouri 
River Degradation, Kansas and Missouri project (4800 East 63rd Street, 
Kansas City, MO 64130)
  The Kansas City levee systems and metro utilities in the Missouri 
River are threatened by the ongoing degradation of the Missouri River 
bed in the Kansas City reach. Federal funds obtained will be used for a 
feasibility study to investigate the progressive streambed degradation 
in the Kansas City reach and other areas of the Missouri River.
  Congressman Sam Graves (MO-6) (along with the President)
  Department of Defense, Corps of Engineers--Civil, Construction--
$100,000 to the Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District for Kansas 
City Levees in Missouri and Kansas (4800 East 63rd Street, Kansas City, 
MO 64130)
  Design of Phase 1, Fairfax Levee, began in 2007. A new construction 
start and funding is necessary to begin the most critical corrections 
to the levee system, and to complete Phase 2 feasibility study. 
Corrective measures to provide reliable protection include raising the 
levee/floodwall at Argentine; installing pressure relief wells, new 
piping and pump station all to control underseepage at several units; 
and to reduce the risk of system failure through sheetpile wall 
reinforcement; and new construction for the Fairfax-Jersey Creek Unit. 
There are more than 95,000 jobs that exist in the Kansas City levees 
protected area. Federal funds obtained will be used to advance the 
feasibility study.

                          ____________________