Federal Chamber Approves Increase in Authorized Funds for the Martín Peña Caño and Promote Flood Control Work

Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón announced the approval today in the federal House of Representatives of legislation that increases the amount of funds authorized for works in the Martín Peña Caño, "this is a great advance since it is increased to $ 232,430,000 on budget limit to continue developing this project that is so important for the communities surrounding the Caño ".

The Draft Law for the Development of Water Resources (WRDA, for its acronym in English), approved in today's session, also includes language to address flood control projects in the Culebrinas River, Río Grande de Manatí and Río Guayanilla in Puerto Rico. The Senate approved its version of this legislation, which requires a conference process to reconcile both versions, according to the congresswoman.

"The projects of the Caño Martín Peña, Culebrinas River, Grande de Manatí River and the Guayanilla River are crucial for the development of infrastructure on the Island and the safety of the residents where these projects are located. I thank my colleagues from the Lower House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for accepting my measures to promote these projects; I will continue working from Congress so that Puerto Rico has a safe and resilient water infrastructure, "said the resident commissioner.

In the Bipartite Budget Law of 2018, the resident commissioner obtained funds to follow up on various water bodies management projects carried out by the Corps of Engineers on the island. Among them $ 3 million for the Guayanilla River, $ 400,000 for the Culebrinas River in Aguada and Aguadilla and $ 1.2 million for the Grande de Manatí River in Ciales, for the study stage of the flood control project, these are pending for the conclusion of the Report of the Chief Engineer ("Chief's Report").

The WRDA project approved today includes expedited attention to these three flood control projects.

WRDA grants USACE authority to carry out water resource and infrastructure development studies and projects, as well as operational reforms. This legislation authorizes at the nation level, including Puerto Rico, 35 USACE feasibility studies and the construction of another 34 projects proposed and pending the Chief Engineer Reports.

Projects include work to improve or enable navigation, flood damage reduction, hurricane and storm damage reduction, shoreline protection and ecosystem restoration.

Operational reforms include expanding the agency's flexibility in calculating cost-benefit for its projects, which can be of great advantage to rural and disadvantaged communities.

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