WASHINGTON - Reacting to reports of a 200 percent cost increase in a key element of flood control work at Folsom Dam, Reps. Dan Lungren and John Doolittle said Wednesday that there should be a new effort to study the feasibility of a new multipurpose dam at Auburn.

But the two Sacramento-area Republicans stopped short of saying a 2-year-old deal that Doolittle struck with former Rep. Robert Matsui, D-Sacramento, to make Folsom upgrades the key component of Sacramento flood protection should be scrapped.

"That deal was a good-faith deal," Doolittle, R-Roseville, said in an interview. "I do think, however, that this dramatic increase in costs constitutes a change of circumstances. I think there needs to be a re-examination of available alternatives."

Despite their pledge not to pull the plug on the Doolittle-Matsui deal and to strive for a united delegation, Lungren and Doolittle were moving in the opposite direction from Rep. Doris Matsui, elected to fill the Sacramento congressional seat after the unexpected Jan. 1 death of her husband.

Doris Matsui said an Auburn dam is "not a politically viable option."

And while she said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' miscalculations on project costs are "upsetting" and "unacceptable," she believes that a flood-control strategy centered on improvements to Folsom Dam remains the best option.

"I don't believe the corps' mistakes should obscure the fundamental benefits of this approach," she said. "In terms of lives saved and property protected, it is worth every penny invested."

Revival of arguments over an Auburn dam followed the Corps of Engineers' disclosure Tuesday that the cost of adding more and bigger outlets to the face of Folsom Dam would not cost the $214 million they had initially estimated, but more like $450 million to $650 million.

With that size of increase, ongoing levee work plus the $250 million cost of adding another seven feet in height to the 50-year-old dam - work that is a long way off with years of engineering studies yet to be done - pushes the cost of Sacramento flood protection to the $1 billion level, with the risk of further overruns.

For more details, see Thursday's Bee.