WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Scott Peters (CA-52) supported the House passage of the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), legislation enacted every two years that sets policy and enables the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to carry out new water infrastructure projects. The 2020 version includes provisions important to San Diego, such as feasibility studies for shoreline stabilization along the Del Mar Bluffs and coastal storm damage reduction in Southern California. Rep. Peters’ bill that will allow a San Diego River levee to be rehabilitated was also incorporated.

“The City of San Diego reached out to me last year to help them fix an issue with a levee created by the San Diego River and Mission Bay Improvement Project back in 1959,” said Rep. Peters. “Permanent infrastructure, like Friars Road, a police station and transit center, are encroaching on this 785-foot-long segment and make it nearly impossible to restore that part of the levee to its original condition, which is critical in reauthorizing the full levee system. By deauthorizing just this section, we are helping ensure the rest of the levee system can be brought up to federal standards and remain eligible for federal rehabilitation assistance.” 

WRDA 2020 approves 44 new water projects across the country, streamlines flooding and resiliency measures, and reauthorizes discretionary spending to donor and energy transfer ports, like the Port San Diego, through Fiscal Year 2030. The bill additionally works to unlock unused money from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) to meet the maintenance needs of ports and harbors without counting the supplementary funds against budget caps.

Since Rep. Peters first was elected, Congress has successfully enacted three consecutive bipartisan WRDAs in 2014, 2016, and 2018. The 2018 version included Rep. Peters’ legislation to encourage greater investment in clean energy by giving already-approved hydropower projects a four-year extension if there are delays on breaking ground.