Billion Dollar Boondoggle

The Fort Worth Business Press reports on the status of the funding for the Trinity River Vision.

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Federal funds expected for the massive Trinity River Vision project are on hold for 2011 as lawmakers – stung by a voter rebellion at the polls – re-evaluate programs supported by federal earmarks.

Not to worry, says J.D. Granger, executive director of the Trinity River Vision Authority – at least not for now.

“We’re not getting anything in the way of appropriations for FY 2011,” he said. “Every bit of that went on a moratorium for this year as they redefine the process. Luckily we’re ahead of schedule on our appropriations so we can carry through this year and most of next year without it impacting the project, but within a couple of years we’ve got to have that process redefined to actually maintain our completion date.”

The Trinity River Vision project so far has received $43.6 million in federal funding, most of it in the form of earmarks by Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth)

But Sandy Newby, the chief financial officer for the Tarrant Regional Water District and the Trinity River Vision Authority, said the project has not given up on obtaining federal funding this year.

J.D. Granger said he is confident that when the appropriations process shakes out in Washington, funding for the project will be protected.

Kay Granger is a key member of the House Appropriations Committee and was focusing most recently on a massive catch-all spending bill funding the government through Sept. 30. But she has said that while the earmarks process in general needs to be reformed, there needs to be a clear path forward to provide federal funding for worthwhile projects such as Trinity River Vision. Kay Granger is J.D. Granger’s mother.
The project needs a lot more federal funding, most of it from the Army Corps of Engineers, over the next 10-12 years to be completed.
For instance, while the water district says it has received $20.6 million from the Corps of Engineers so far, most in the form of earmarks, it estimates that the project requires an additional $425.4 million in funding from that federal agency.
So while the project has gotten $43.6 million so far in federal funding, that still leaves it far from the total of $487.8 million in federal funding needed for completion, according to water district estimates.