AUBURN DAM PITCHED AS FLOOD INSURANCE : $1 BILLION PLAN DIVIDES FORCES IN CALIFORNIA.

Byline: Timothy Egan The New York Times

In pushing a project that could contain more concrete than Hoover Dam, cost more than the Grand Coulee and bury miles of wild river canyon under 200 feet of water, supporters of what may be the last big dam proposal in the American West have a simple argument for taxpayers.

``You can pay us now, or you can pay us later,'' said Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., who is the chief sponsor of the nearly $1 billion Auburn Dam proposal.

The now part has much to do with the fact that nearly one of every eight members of the House come from the Golden State, where water and power are a mix that lubricates many political decisions.

The later part draws on nightmare visions of a storm of biblical proportions, slamming into the Sierra Nevada and overwhelming Sacramento. Then the federal government would have no choice but to bail out the victims - at a cost of up to $10 billion, supporters of the dam say.

The dam would be a 508-foot-high staple on the American River, 35 miles northeast of Sacramento. As envisioned by Doolittle, it would allow developers in his fast-growing district to get the water they need for housing subdivisions, and it would assure that 400,000 people living down river would have maximum protection from flooding.

To opponents, the many incarnations of the Auburn Dam over nearly four decades are a boondoggle of epic proportions. Why should taxpayers from the rest of the country, they ask, have to subsidize development in California or pay to keep homeowners out of harm's way? It would be much cheaper to improve the existing levee system in the Sacramento area, and fairer to have residents of the area pay for it themselves, the critics argue.

In addition, there is broad environmental opposition by critics who say it will destroy more than 40 miles of pristine river canyons - a popular recreational haunt. And the Environmental Protection Agency has issued a report against the dam.

The Auburn Dam proposal is expected to be part of a national water authorization bill to be voted on by a House subcommittee next week. Its chances are uncertain.

Both sides see the dam vote as a test of fiscal resolve in tight budget times and one of the bigger environmental votes in this election year.

While Congress has made much of its effort to pare projects criticized as bloated and parochial, the Auburn Dam has found a niche as political stepchild of sorts. Speaker Newt Gingrich has tentatively said he would back it. And many of California's Democrats, who usually favor environmentalists, have joined Republicans in supporting the project.

The proposed dam is designed to withstand a huge storm that the authorities say there is only a 1-in-500 chance in any year. It would amount to some of the most costly insurance against natural disaster ever granted to a single region - rivaling even the vast plumbing projects up and down the Mississippi River.

And the California political establishment, from Gov. Pete Wilson to members of the local flood control districts, is giving it its best sell.

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Photo: The proposed Auburn Dam near Sacramento would bury m iles of wild river canyon used by rafters.

The New York Times