Sutter officials outline $3.35 million water authorizations and $4.6 million in pending earmark requests

Sutter County officials are pursuing two separate streams of federal support for water and wastewater infrastructure: $3.35 million in water-resources authorizations included in a House-passed bill and $4.6 million in pending FY2027 Senate earmark requests.

The figures are in a presentation that Jeremiah Van Auken of The Ferguson Group is scheduled to give at the Sutter County Board of Supervisors’ Nov. 10 meeting as a federal advocacy update. The county agenda packet identifies the House amount as an authorization in the Water Resources Development Act of 2026, or WRDA, rather than an appropriation of money.

The House passed H.R. 9497, the WRDA bill, by a 415-9 vote on Sept. 16, according to the presentation. The county provisions included $3.35 million for water and wastewater infrastructure, amendments to the Army Corps of Engineers’ Continuing Authorities Program for stormwater projects in Yuba City and Robbins, and reimbursement authority intended to let the county manage its own Army Corps projects.

The presentation said the Senate committee bill contained $3 million for the county provisions and that the bill was awaiting floor action. Negotiations were expected during the lame-duck session. The county said it planned to submit a letter of intent to the Army Corps in January or February 2027, adding that the authorization itself does not provide funding.

Separately, the county reported that Sen. Alex Padilla had submitted two FY2027 requests at the full amounts sought: $1.2 million for a Sutter Pointe radio tower and $3.446 million to replace a wastewater line in Robbins. The presentation described the requests as pending and said Senate bills had not been released as of Nov. 6.

The presentation describes an approximately $5 million near-term need for a Sutter Pointe sewer-line extension and said staff were engaging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program about loan and grant options. It also identified federal paths for failing culvert crossings, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s PL-566 program and a proposed House surface-transportation culvert program.

The record does not establish whether the WRDA authorizations will receive appropriations or whether the FY2027 Senate requests will be included in enacted legislation. The county’s potential matching obligations, project schedules and repayment terms were not specified in the presentation.