Thompson secures $5.5 million for Lake County projects in Government Funding Agreement

This week, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-04) announced that three projects in Lake County will receive a total of $5,576,031 in funding from the government funding agreement that will be considered by Congress later this week. Rep. Thompson secured $14,992,105 total for projects in California's Fourth District.

“Community Project Funding requests allow our region to receive funding from the federal government for projects that will help improve our communities and invest in local priorities,” said Thompson. “I worked with partners in Lake County to identify the projects that would most benefit from funding and improve our community. I look forward to seeing this funding signed into law so these projects can receive this funding and head towards completion.”

The projects in Lake County are:

$4,116,279 for the Clearlake Burns Valley Sports Complex

$959,752 for the In-Lake Water Treatment System at Clear Lake

$500,000 for the Big Valley Fish Habitat Improvement and Groundwater Recharge Project Background on these projects can be found below.

The Clearlake Burns Valley Sports Complex project will build a community sports and recreation center, expanding the community's access to sports and recreational amenities and establishing the city as a destination for events and tournaments. At present no youth sports programs can have tournaments in economically disadvantaged Lake County due to a lack of facilities. This project will rectify that situation and drive new visitor spending in Lake County. It will bring in 40,000 annual visitors to the city, resulting in 10,000 hotel room stays and bringing in $8.6 million per year to the local economy.

The In-Lake Water Treatment System at Clear Lake project supports the Clean Water Act by preventing the pollution of Clear Lake's drinking water at the source. It uses an oxygenation system to combat the growth of harmful agal blooms in Clear Lake before the water goes into the water treatment plant, reducing in-plant treatment costs and preventing the formation of toxins that cannot otherwise be removed and would pass untreated into the drinking water of Clear Lake residents.

The Big Valley Fish Habitat Improvement and Groundwater Recharge Project encompasses two sub-projects: 1) The Development of the Adobe Creek Conjunctive Use Project and 2) The Rehabilitation of the Kelsey Creek Detention Structure. Both projects work in tandem to improve fish habitat and aquifer recharge throughout a priority groundwater Basin, Big Valley Groundwater Basin. Specifically, these projects will enhance summer flow and riparian habitat in Adobe Creek, Highland Creek and Kelsey Creek ultimately improving fish spawning habitat, especially as it relates to the State-Listed Threatened Clear Lake Hitch (CLH).