Safeco warns federal staffing, funding actions could slow Folsom and Natomas work

Rick Johnson, executive director of the Sacramento Flood Control Agency, told the board on Feb. 20 that recent federal personnel cuts and contract freezes at the Bureau of Reclamation could affect Safeco projects and shift agency priorities toward real estate and long-term property management.

Johnson said the Bureau of Reclamation "has actually been hit harder than the corps," describing layoffs and freezes that led Reclamation to cancel or suspend some construction contracts and to freeze funding for two Safeco-related projects, including temperature-control shutters at Folsom. "Their funding's been frozen," he said. He added that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had fared better so far and "gotten all of our construction projects going again," though he cautioned a Department of Defense announcement of potential cuts could cause future effects.

The agency described several active construction efforts that continue.…