Lungren in Calaveras County - groundbreaking of new wastewater treatment plant

There is nothing I like better than to be invited to an event in our Third District where the earth is about to be turned and there is the prospect for jobs and economic development in the air.
Such was the case when I was home last week during a trip to the Foothill counties of Amador and Calaveras.

Friday morning I presided at a groundbreaking for a new Wastewater Treatment facility in Calaveras County located between Douglass Flat and Vallecito, just northeast of Angels Camp.

Courtesy photo

I was delighted to be there as the guest of the Calaveras County Water District (CCWD) for a number of reasons, and the feeling was mutual. We have had a long-standing and successful relationship working with CCWD as its federal partner and this new treatment plant will create jobs in the area. There will be construction jobs as the $4.4 million facility is completed, but even more exciting is the potential for future development because the plant will create tertiary water that can be used to irrigate.
Who knows, there may be an expansion of the wineries in the area around Murphys, which could lead to more jobs in the vineyards or in other agricultural pursuits. More jobs could mean a need for more homes and services for southern Calaveras County. Just add water to some rural economies and there is no telling what could come from it.

A lot of credit has to go to my Foothill friends who have consistently gone the extra mile to work with us over the years to bring needed improvements via federal agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
We are continuing to work with CCWD and the county on other needs as well.  One pressing one is replacing some aging redwood water tanks used in forest fire suppression. Wooden tanks during a forest fire obviously are not the optimum – especially in a dry year like the one we are experiencing. So, we have been working with CCWD and state agencies to get funding from already available programs to replace them with metal ones.  

My trips to the Foothills also give me an opportunity to let human services agencies know about changes in federal programs that could benefit the needy. A case in point occurred following an adjustment to an appropriations bill late in 2011. 
Up until recently area school districts were at risk of liability if they donated excess food from cafeterias to local food banks. Perfectly good food was being thrown away instead of being turned over to these food pantries for distribution.  But because of the work of my Virginia Republican colleague Congressman Frank Wolf (VA-10), the Good Samaritan Act will now cover cross-community food donations.
Our friends in smaller Foothill communities hardest hit by the economic downturn now have a new resource with which to feed the hungry.  Last week we heard from food banks in Amador and Calaveras County that could not wait to get work on building this new “food chain” between the schools and the food pantries.
This is another example of our strategy of trying to create jobs – or a better life—by rescinding or changing regulations that just don’t make any sense.
Sincerely,

Daniel E. Lungren
Member of Congress