A Great Blue Heron takes off from the Cowlitz River on the morning of Monday, June 15, 2015.
U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, joined Washington Democratic Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell this week in urging the full federal funding of the Mount St. Helens Sediment Control account.
Funding from the account, according to a press release, is used to monitor and retain sediment left in the Cowlitz River by the Mount St. Helens eruption, and to take necessary actions to minimize subsequent flooding in Longview, Kelso, Castle Rock and Lexington.
“Despite the need for annual work, federal funding for the program has been inconsistent, forcing local communities to put up their own money for a federal responsibility,” the three lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Office of Management and Budget and the U.S. Dept. of the Army.
Although the legislators said they appreciated the entities’ work last summer to funnel unused funds to the program, they are “disappointed” that funding wasn’t allocated for the same work this year, “yet again abdicating a federal responsibility and forcing the local community to cobble together funds to pay for the work.”
The lawmakers characterized the funding as a “relatively minor expenditure” for the federal government, compared to the “extraordinary burden it represents to small rural communities.”
“We request that you honor congressional intent and provide the requisite funding in the Fiscal Year 2022 budget for the (Army Corps) to conduct the necessary sediment monitoring activities,” they wrote. “We look forward to your prompt response.”
