WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act provides $50.8 million for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects in Maryland, including more than $13.82 million for Harford and Cecil County priorities. The 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act passed the Senate Tuesday. It now heads to the President to be signed into law.

“This bill is a federal investment in the lives and livelihoods that depend on the waterways of Maryland. This funding will help improve the quality of waterways in Northern Maryland,” said Senator Mikulski. “I will continue to fight to make Harford and Cecil Counties a priority in the federal checkbook.”

The Omnibus bill includes:

• $13.7 million for operation and maintenance dredging of the C&D Canal and approach channels. The C&D Canal currently carries 40 percent of all ship traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore.

• $67,000 for the Susquehanna River Basin Low Flow Management and Environmental Restoration Project. The funding will be used to develop strategies to meet the growing demand for water in the Basin. Census estimates predict a 16 percent population increase in the area over the next 20 years.

• $57,000 for Conowingo Reservoir Sediment Management in Cecil County. The funding will be used to determine how large sediment buildup from behind the Conowingo Reservoir can be prevented from entering the Chesapeake Bay.