California Flood Control A Crisis, But Federal Funding Is Uncertain

"WASHINGTON -- Experts say California’s Oroville dam crisis demonstrates the life-and-death urgency of federal spending to upgrade aging dams. But there are doubts about whether President Donald Trump will agree.

California Natural Resources Secretary John Laird told the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Wednesday that further deterioration of the nation’s aging flood control and water infrastructure systems will put lives at risk.

He said the Oroville crisis, in which nearly 200,000 people were ordered to evacuate last month out of fear of catastrophic flooding, had brought necessary attention to the issues."

Sean Cockerham reports for McClatchy March 1, 2017.