House, Senate Reach WRDA Deal; Authorize $6.3B in Water Projects.

The House and Senate reached a compromise last week on legislation authorizing $6.3 billion in spending on civil works projects, following a year's delay and over two years of legislative effort.

To get past the dispute over competing flood control projects in Sacramento, Calif. - the issue that blocked passage of the bill last year and held up a House-Senate agreement over the last three months - conferees merely stuck with the modest provisions for improved flood protection in the region contained in the House version.

The agreement on a final version of t