Stimulus funds flood Tri-Counties
Funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — the federal stimulus bill — are starting to percolate into the Tri-Counties, with millions of dollars allocated to infrastructure and job training programs.
• Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara), said that the Bureau of Reclamation will make available $20 million in federal economic recovery funding for the design, planning, and construction of the Groundwater Recovery Enhancement and Treatment (GREAT) Project in Ventura County. The project is one of 27 water reclamation and reuse projects that will share in a total of $134.3 million under the federal Recovery Act.
• Elements of the $55 million GREAT Program include a new regional groundwater desalination facility to serve potable water customers in Oxnard and adjacent communities, a recycled water system to serve agricultural water users and added protection against seawater intrusion and saltwater contamination. The program also includes a wetlands restoration and enhancement element by reusing the brine discharges from both the recycled and groundwater desalination treatment facilities. So far, the City of Oxnard has spent nearly $3 million on advanced planning, conceptual design and environmental review for the project.
• Santa Barbara will receive $4.3 million of the total $400 million allocated to improving California’s transit infrastructure through the, according to a press release from Sen. Barbara Boxer’s (D-Calif.) office.
• In Ventura County, federal stimulus funds will be directed through the California Recovery Task Force for youth job training and gang prevention programs.
The California Recovery Task Force has awarded more than $4 million of federal stimulus which will be distributed to grantees through the Employment Development Department (EDD) Construction Talent Transfer program and Governor Schwarzenegger’s California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention Initiative to help train nearly 600 displaced construction workers and 200 at-risk youths.
Through the program, agencies in Ventura County will receive funding intended to provide job training and education programs targeting youth ages 14 to 24 that are at risk of joining gangs or seeking to leave them.
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