California's Oroville Dam received no stimulus funding for repairs in former President Barack Obama's 2009 package, although warnings about its disrepair occurred for years, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
Almost 200,000 residents north of Sacramento were ordered to evacuate Sunday while authorities attempted to repair erosion of the dam's emergency spillway, which would release "catastrophic" flood waters if it collapsed, according to CNBC.
There is no public record of the dam, the tallest in the U.S., receiving any of the federal money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was intended for repairs to infrastructure around the nation, the Free Beacon reported.
However, over $22 million in the act's funds went to improving safety on the Folsom Dam, which was reported to be in "good shape but is starting to show its age."
Other projects that received money from the stimulus package were $2.2 million for sidewalks and $2.5 million for a 205-acre "zero net energy" community on the campus of University of California-Davis, the Free Beacon reported.
The California Department of Water Resources denied that it had failed to listen to warnings about the dam's safety. "We have a very rigorous schedule of inspections that is determined by state and federal regulators," spokesman Eric See told CNBC.
California Gov. Jerry Brown asked for around $162 million for cleanup, but costs for repairs could hit $200 million.
Over 125 construction crews are at work reinforcing the spillway, according to the Los Angeles Times.
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