Gold River, CA – Congressman Dan Lungren (Gold River CA-03) released the following statement after the completion of an aerial tour of the Sacramento Region’s high risk, damaged and eroding levees along the American and Sacramento Rivers.  Congressman Lungren, Governor Schwarzenegger, Senator Feinstein, Congressman Pombo, Congresswoman Matsui, and Sacramento Mayor Fargo were briefed by the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, the California Department of Water Resources, and the US Army Corp of Engineers at Mather Airport prior to the tour.

“This aerial tour of the Sacramento area was a valuable opportunity for us visit the areas at risk if we don’t take the appropriate actions to protect the Sacramento Region from the threat of catastrophic flood.  In the aftermath of the Katrina disaster we know the price of inaction.  Today the Sacramento Region has half the flood protection and twice the risk as did the city of New Orleans prior to Katrina.  We understand the nature and severity of the problem and have made it a top priority to mitigate the threat flood waters pose to the Sacramento area.

The Governor, Senator Feinstein, Congressman Pombo, Congressman Doolittle, Congresswoman Matsui, Congressman Lewis, Mayor Fargo, and I believe the residents of the Sacramento Region deserve the best possible effort from their Congressional Representatives, their State Government, and their Federal Government.  They deserve adequate flood protection.