[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16323]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING THE COMPLETION OF THE FOLSOM DAM JOINT FEDERAL PROJECT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. AMI BERA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 23, 2017

  Mr. BERA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the completion of 
the Folsom Dam Joint Federal Project.
  This project has been nine years in the making and will provide 
critical increased flood capacity with Folsom Dam. Last week, the Army 
Corps of Engineers transferred control of the new auxiliary spillway to 
the Bureau of Reclamation.
  In connection with the existing gates, the new auxiliary spillway 
will help release water more quickly from Folsom Reservoir to help 
create space for precipitation during our wet winters.
  I want to thank all of the engineers, construction workers and staff 
from both the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation who 
worked on this important project. These agencies worked together with 
the Central Valley Flood Protection Board and the Sacramento Area Flood 
Control Agency to get the project completed.
  The city of Sacramento faces the second highest flood risk in the 
country. So this new spillway is just one part of several 
infrastructure upgrades to increase flood protection in the region. I 
look forward to working with my colleagues to support the remaining 
upgrades including completing levee repairs, updating the water control 
manual, and raising the dam walls.
  Finally, I want to also extend many thanks to Mr. David Thomas, who 
was the ACE Sacramento District Mega Project Center Director and the 
lead point person for the JFP.
  Soon, Mr. Thomas will retire after more than 30 years of service in 
the Army Corps of Engineers. He has served in a wide variety of 
stations from New York and Houston to Italy, Afghanistan and Iraq. Mr. 
Thomas received his Bachelor's degree of Engineering in 1985 from Texas 
A&M University. In 1993, he attended the Army Management Staff College 
and also holds a Master's degree in Public Administration in 1995 from 
Harvard University.
  I want to thank him for his work over the past 5 years here in 
Sacramento as the Mega Project Director and his instrumental role in to 
helping get this project across the finish line.
  Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me in congratulating Mr. 
Thomas and wish him the best in retirement and his next adventure. The 
Joint Federal Project has been a great example of how cooperation 
should work between government agencies and what happens when we make 
government work on behalf of the American people.

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