Alex Padilla Touts $25.5M for San Diego Projects in Appropriations Bills

California Sen. Alex Padilla Tuesday touted more than $25.5 million in potential federal funding for 17 projects across the San Diego region in Congress’ first package of Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations bills.

“I am proud to have secured millions in funding for projects that will improve the quality of life across the San Diego region,” Padilla said. “As we face increasingly severe weather like the atmospheric river last month, these investments will upgrade local stormwater and sewer infrastructure to improve storm resilience and the quality of our water supply.

“These investments will also support safer streets, more housing, and additional tools combat wildfires,” he added.

The House and Senate will consider the bills this week ahead of the March 8 funding deadline before they are sent to the president to be signed into law.

Some of the projects that would be funded include:

— $6 million for Scripps Institution of Oceanography to further explore offshore DDT pollution in the San Pedro Basin and the impacts on marine life;

— $3.61 million to replace aging water infrastructure in Borrego Springs;

— $3.3 million for Oceanside Harbor dredging;

— $1.93 million for UC San Diego’s Wildfire Technology Commons, which seeks to prevent destruction from wildfires by using data and AI as tools for next-generation fire models and mapping;

— $1.5 million for the city of San Diego shelter expansion project;

— $1 million for developing a master plan for improving Oceanside’s Landes Community Center and Park.