The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Since Sacramento, the state capital, was founded over 150 years ago, it has suffered from flood disasters because of inadequate flood protection. Each year, the State Capitol and more than 1,300 other government-owned buildings and infrastructure of the capital region are at risk because of their location in the worst protected urban area in the country.
(b) The State of California’s investment of money and other resources in the state’s seat of government is important to preserve and protect.
(c) It is in the best interest of this state to invest in a cost-shared program to protect life and property in the state capital from flooding, thus resulting in opportunities for sustainable economic development and continued protection of the state’s natural resources.
(d) The Congress and the President of the United States have recognized the national importance of increasing the level of the state capital’s flood protection by authorizing projects in the Water Resources Development Act of 1999.
(Added by Stats. 1999, Ch. 725, Sec. 1. Approved in Proposition 13 at the March 7, 2000, election.)