WASHINGTON — Ventura County has finally won approval from Congress to tear down the Matilija Dam near Ojai.

The Senate voted 81-12 on Monday to authorize spending $144.5 million for the dam removal and restoration of the Ventura River.

The project was included in a $23 billion package that contains scores of water- and flood-control projects across the country. The bill is now headed to President Bush for his signature.

Bush has threatened to veto the legislation, citing the huge expense of the projects, but Democratic and Republican leaders predicted the Senate and the House would both be able to override a veto.

An aide to Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, noted the House passed the bill in August by a 381-40 vote and said the congresswoman's office feels confident that Bush's threat of a veto "is just talk."

Even if Bush signs the bill into law, funding for the Matilija Dam project is not guaranteed.

The bill doesn't provide money for the dam removal; it merely authorizes Congress to spend federal money on the project. The actual funding would be subject to an annual appropriation by Congress.

Still, getting the federal government's approval is a necessary hurdle that must be cleared before the dam removal can begin.

County Supervisor Steve Bennett says the project has strong support in Congress and actual funding will eventually be forthcoming.

"It wouldn't be in the water bill right now if there wasn't good support," Bennett said. "I think there will be challenges; some years you may get a little less than you hope; the timing may be stretched out a little longer than we would like. But I feel confident there will be funding after authorization."

The project has been a long time coming. It has been talked about for at least a decade, and it has been six years since the county signed an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a feasibility study.

The county appeared close to winning approval for the Matilija Dam removal last year when the House and the Senate passed a water bill that included the project. However, the bill died before negotiators for the chambers could resolve differences in the two versions.

Matilija Dam was built more than five decades ago and is now considered obsolete, with 95 percent of its water capacity choked by 6 million cubic yards of sediment.

The dam removal project is currently in the design phase. Actual removal of the dam is slated from 2010 to 2012, said Sue Hughes, Ventura County's legislative analyst.

Total cost of the project is projected at $144.5 million. The federal government's share is projected at $89.7 million. Local agencies would have to pick up the rest of the project costs.

The county already has received $7 million in state grants for design work, the construction of wells near Foster Park in Ventura and the removal of arundo from the watershed. Arundo is a nonnative, highly invasive weed that is destroying native habitat.

The state funding came from voter-approved bonds.