Controversial Auburn Dam Killed by House : Floods: The lopsided vote is a surprising victory for environmentalists and a major defeat for advocate Rep. Vic Fazio.

WASHINGTON — In a startling victory for the California environmental community, the House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to kill a controversial $698-million Auburn Dam project that would have provided flood protection for the Sacramento Valley.

The outcome was a major setback for Rep. Vic Fazio (D-West Sacramento), one of the most powerful Democrats in the House who fought over the last six years for the project and issued a personal appeal for his colleagues to support the dam.

But Fazio and Rep. Robert Matsui (D-Sacramento) could not overcome the opposition of environmentalists--who contended that the 425-foot-tall dry dam would cause irreparable damage to the pristine American River canyon--and pro-taxpayer lobbyists who said it was too costly.

The motion to kill the dam project by Rep. Thomas E. Petri (R-Wis.) was approved by a nearly 2-1 margin, 270 to 140. Only 11 of California’s 45-member California delegation voted for the project.

“It was a very tough sell,” a dejected Fazio said after the vote. “We worked hard for a consensus and we did not obtain it.”

Fazio is engaged in a tough reelection battle against former Republican state Sen. H. L. Richardson, who moved from Southern California to the Sacramento area. Environmentalists were so angered by Fazio’s support for the Auburn Dam that they were threatening to field a write-in candidate in the race.

Work on the foundation for a massive water storage dam on the American began in 1967, but the project was shelved 13 years ago amid earthquake fears and the protests of environmentalists. Authority to build a dam was never revoked but funding was not provided by Congress.

In recent years a coalition of Sacramento Valley pro-growth interests has pushed Congress to approve a scaled-down dam that would at least protect downstream communities from catastrophic flooding.

The House action means that the dam is dead for this year and faces an uncertain future. The Senate is not expected to take up the bill.

“The House gave a signal that the Fazio-Matsui proposal is just not a viable way of dealing with Auburn Dam problems,” said Tom Graff, staff attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund. “We’re hopefully going to go to folks in Sacramento and get serious about flood protection by working on levees and spillways.”

The vote followed more than an hour of unusually heated debate on the House floor, mostly among California members. The lively exchanges prompted Rep. John J. Rhodes III (R-Ariz.) to remark that his colleagues need not worry about the feared clout of the “monolithic” 52-member California delegation next year.

Fazio, the influential chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is widely known among his colleagues as “Mr. Goodwrench” for his ability to help legislators get pet projects through the House. He engaged in a testy argument with Rep. William Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) and Rep. John Doolittle (R-Rocklin), who opposed the flood control dam as being too small. They favored a larger, more expensive multiuse dam like the original project.

The debate also pitted two of California’s most powerful legislators--Fazio and Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), chairman of the Interior Committee, against one another.

Fazio’s proposal had the support of Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, Sen. John Seymour (R-Calif.) and Rep. Robert A. Roe (D-N.J.), chairman of the Public Works Committee.

As he took the floor to wrap up the debate, Fazio told his colleagues: “I feel very frustrated at the moment. I apologize to everybody for being a little bit out of control today. . . . I am not looking for trouble. I’m looking to help people. I hope you help us today.”

Fazio emphasized that he previously had approved and supported projects for other members, including the largest flood control project in the nation, the $1.5-billion Santa Ana River Project.

Several congressmen commented as they were making their way into the House chamber that they intended to vote for the Auburn Dam project because of Fazio’s involvement.

“This vote is not on the merits,” said one environmentalist lobbyist. “It’s a popularity contest.”

Once it became clear that the project was headed for defeat, Fazio said, he gave about 50 colleagues who wanted to boost their ratings among environmentalist and taxpayer groups the go-ahead to vote against the dam.

“People were seeking political refuge,” Fazio said. “. . . It’s all politics.”

Nine California Democrats and two Republicans voted for the project. They were Fazio, Matsui, Glenn M. Anderson (D-San Pedro), George E. Brown (D-Colton), Gary Condit (D-Ceres), Richard H. Lehman (D-Sanger), Edward R. Roybal (D-Los Angeles), Esteban E. Torres (D-La Puente), Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) and Bill Lowery (R-San Diego). Rep. Mervyn M. Dymally (D-Compton) did not vote.

Times staff writer William J. Eaton contributed to this story.